Game speedrunning enthusiasts once discovered that a greasy disc was the key to enabling a big time-saving trick in SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom on the original Xbox. Speedrunner SHiFT, the current leaderboard champ in the game, reveals how, with the right console generation choice, the right drive, the right configuration of greasy smudges, and with mastery of the 'lag clip' technique, you could complete SpongeBob running from the optical drive in record time.

The above video is partly a detective story, as the competitive speedrunning community focuses intensely on any not-so-obvious speed advantages that can be achieved. The dream is to slice seconds off the completion time of this game and achieve a speedrun of under 40 minutes. SHiFT discusses how the gunked-up game disc tactic was confirmed as a winning strategy, while not breaking any community guidelines.

The original Xbox version of the SpongeBob game is the default choice of the speedrunning community, as it has faster loading than the PS2 and GameCube versions. However, there were various versions of the Xbox, too. For example, there are four different optical drive manufacturers, among other nuanced differences. So, detective work and experience were used to narrow down the best vintage machine.

Speedrunners, including SHiFT and Zim, worked for hours testing various combinations of optical drives, laser modules, and connector cables. They even wondered if the video chip (which varies between production years on Xbox) or the TV connector method had an impact on timings. In a daze from a super-long streaming session, they eventually decided to look at the condition of the disc. It was smudgy, but it could be worse...

An inspirational moment then occurred, and they tried making the disc filthy and smeary with grease and sweat. However, it was ultimately found that a strategically placed pattern of smears, with eight strokes emanating from the center like the petals of a flower, was a winning choice. This grease config made it easy for the player to induce the elusive lag clip timesaving technique – no hardware tinkering necessary – without making the optical disc unreadable.

They had found “the holy grail” of SpongeBob lag clipping speedrunning. SHiFT’s conclusion was confirmed in some correspondence with the then-champion among SpongeBob speedrunners, who goes by the unimproveable handle swagmasterdoritos. The master admitted, “I clean my discs via licking them then using a pillowcase to wipe and clean.” An image shared by swagmasterdoritos showed the spit-cleaned disc featured petal-like streaks. That’s how they had been enjoying super-slick lag clipping throughout the game: there was nothing particularly unique about their original Xbox.

Two new entrants have broken into the top five of the leaderboard in the last five days, but SHiFT's time of 40m 27s is still more than 90s ahead of the nearest challenger. Nowadays, the community has given up on optical disks. You will see that all the top SpongeBob speedruns play the game from the Xbox HDD. Some thought lag clips were too inconsistent, and that potentially damaging game discs by smudging or scratching them was unethical.

Japanese PC peripherals and accessories stalwart Elecom has announced that it is pulling out of the Blu-ray drive market. The Osaka-based outfit, established in 1986, has pulled the plug on nine drives. That’s the entirety of its external USB-attached drive portfolio. In an official notice of discontinuation (machine translation), the firm apologized for any inconvenience its decision would cause and said the drives would stop being sold on June 30, 2026, depending on stock levels.

Removing these nine drives from retail could leave quite a vacuum. Elecom’s range was an example of micro-segmentation, with these nine drives differing in various ways with permutations of USB-A, and/or USB-C interfaces, colors, M-Disc support, software package, and it even had a model specifically for Macs. It is rather drastic to cancel them all and not leave at least one of the more popular options available. At least some of the drives appear to have been branded as ‘Logitec’ (not Logitech, which is known as Logicool in Japan).

Another one bites the dust

In recent months, we have gotten the impression that firms have been dropping established Blu-ray hardware products like hot potatoes. LG and Sony have publicly announced their exit from various Blu-ray player and recorder segments. The latter also stopped recordable Blu-ray media production – an important factor for the broader optical drive industry.

In a move rather similar to Elecom’s, Japan-based peripherals maker Buffalo also recently announced it was withdrawing from the Blu-ray disk drive market. However, the firm was quick to follow up with a statement to Tom’s Hardware, reassuring the readership that it was “fully committed to supplying optical drives to the American market, and our DVD/Blu-ray drive products are anticipated to remain available for the near future.” We note that Buffalo still has a trio of external Blu-ray drives available on Amazon.com starting from $99.

Blu-ray optical drives entered the consumer sphere at CES 2006, so has been around for over two decades. In its early days, it successfully saw off the HD DVD format, and it remains the format of choice for movie and TV buffs who want to keep their favorites in a physical library, able to dip in and enjoy the ultimate quality whenever they are in the mood.

Tech Tangents (TT) surprised themselves by looking at the surface of a CED ‘LaserDisc’ under a microscope and felt compelled to purchase a new device, with a built-in screen and HDMI out, to share what they had discovered. Spoiler alert: You can clearly see some of the analog imagery stored on a CED surface.

Though the media looks quite a lot like a LaserDisc, a CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) is an unusual video distribution format that existed for a time alongside the far better known VHS and BetaMax videotape era. It consisted of a vinyl-like disc, distributed and maintained for its own protection in a caddy, and it was read by a needle-loaded cartridge just like ye olde music LPs and singles.

Like its tape format rivals, the video content stored on a CED was in a standard-definition quality analog form. So, looking extremely closely at the grooved surface can actually give you more than a clue to the content of the disc.

Enjoying the new microscope

After introducing his new microscope and its capabilities, TT finally gets down to some close-up disc scrutiny at around the 14mins mark. Specifically, he zooms in on the surfaces of two samples of actual CEDs. These contain generally better quality (though still analog) video tracks, which were read by a laser pickup. Some of the later LaserDiscs were enhanced with digital PCM audio tracks.

One of the CEDs examined closely was a CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) disc, with its data evidenced by a consistent geometric pattern, whereas a CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) disc under the microscope looks simply colorfully streaky.

“I found an image!”

Now studying the CED surface more earnestly, something caught TT’s eye. “It's not going to happen. We're not going to find an image.” Then, almost immediately, “I found an image.”

The video host explains what we are seeing and that, due to the nature of the CED recording and media, it is possible to see a “meaningful” image on the surface, if and when the video slowly pans across the x or y axis. The first evidence of this phenomenon comes from some video text shown at around 22min 30sec in the video (see image, above).

CED QED

The main event takes place around 25 minutes into the video. A CED disc is (at last) placed under the microscope. After a bit of zooming, focusing, and angling of light sources, TT blurts, “Oh my gosh. We just nailed it. Bang. Right there.”

Again, it is some text, but this time a much clearer representation of the disc content. The CED surface text is almost as clear as a stored video frame on some old film.

After that excitement, the video host moves along to look at a couple of other tech-related artifacts under the microscope. The extras include a surface study of a mixed-mode audio/data CD, and a smartphone screen close-up where the OLED (sub) pixels are clearly visible.

If you reckon the demonstrated desktop digital microscope is a good one, it is the Andonstar AD246S model. We have noticed it is currently 13% off and available for $139 on Amazon.

A tech enthusiast has shared his DVD rewritable endurance findings. In an extensive blog post, Dr. Gough Lui describes his test methodology and discusses the results in detail. Sadly, the best DVD rewritables from the six months of tests Dr. Gough completed - TDK branded discs - are no longer being manufactured.

Dr. Gough first explains how he managed to run the tests, which ran for a solid half-year. The test process was automated using a Python script, as even testing one DVD over 1,000 cycles would take ~21 days. The script also recorded results, with screenshots included.

An as-new condition Lite-On iHAS120 6 was the drive model to run the tests. In its favor, it supports error scanning with jitter, and the doctor had two spares. After some initial setup steps, it was decided to use two of these drives in parallel so that the test suite wouldn’t use up a whole year…

Each test loop included a disc write, then data verification, a transfer rate test (RTT), a quality scan to check for PI/PO errors and jitter, and an erase cycle. This loop would continue until verification failure. “The criterion for disc failure is set as the first verification run that fails due to an error,” the doctor wrote. The resulting figure is accurate ±3 cycles.

Dr. Gough admits there were limitations to the experiment and methodology. Firstly, the life cycle result “is valid only for the combination of burner and disc tested,” says the doctor. Moreover, limited resources and time meant that only a few DVD samples were put through the test regime (as charted below). It is made clear that each row of the test summary is indicative of a single sample of each DVD rewritable available. Another fly in the test ointment was that “some discs return very poor error scan values but remain readable and vice-versa.”

Dr. Gough then goes through each of the sample disks, sharing plenty of commentary on the finer points of the results and how they aligned with expectations. The source also includes an interesting side-quest, where the good doctor uses a Nu Tech DDW-082 drive, which could purportedly revive rewritables using a function called ‘DC Erase.’

The TDK 2x DVD-RW (TDK502sakuM3) was the only disc to survive beyond 1,000 cycles of the testing (or 2,000 if you count the write and erase separately). It was clearly the top performer. This disc led the charge for the DVD-RW camp against the DVD+RW side.

Also, on the – vs + topic, it was interesting to see the former dominate the top of the table. There are so many reasons this may be the case in a test of limited scope like this. For example, the ‘minus’ media might just work a bit better with this Lite-On drive hardware/firmware than ‘plus’ media. Or the triumphant ‘minus’ rewritables had some benefits with respect to degradation of the phase layer material.

As for current stocks of DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs, only Verbatim, Maxell, Ridata, and SmartBuy-branded rewritable media are available at Amazon.

Optical drives can still be handy in 2026, though desktop and PC laptop makers very rarely offer them. So, what do you do, especially if you have a hoard of old CDs and DVDs you (in)frequently wish to access? The answer is a USB optical drive, and Amazon has just dropped an amazingly flexible Alronly-branded model by 30%, from a very reasonable $29.99 to a difficult-to-resist $20.98. It does SATA disk docking, SD card reading, and more.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

This Alronly USB Type-C & USB 3.0 external CD/DVD drive is packed with features. In addition to the headlining CD reading and writing at up to 24X, and DVD reading and writing at up to 8X for data backups, it lets you access and play all those old VCDs and DVD movies and shows.

I bought a similar drive a few years back and members of the family are always borrowing it. Perhaps they should buy their own? This model could be a good choice, as it’s charms extend beyond the optical realm. Many users will also find it a useful accessory for read/write access to old/spare 2.5-inch SSDs and HDDs. I have a few of these in my drawers, and use a separate USB dock for them.

That’s not all this Alronly device covers. It has even more docking functionality. Specifically, it provides easy-to-reach access to a full-size SD card slot, microSD slot, 2x USB-A ports, and USB-C. Pretty good for a device measuring just 0.9 inches thick and weighing only 0.75 pounds.

Compatibility shouldn’t be a concern, even if you really do give Windows 11 the elbow in 2026. Alrony says this USB attached device is compatible with Windows XP, 7, 8, and 10, as well as a wide gamut of Linux and MacOS computers. Just don’t expect to use it with your iOS, Android, or ChromeOS device; they are specifically stated to be incompatible.

The supplied cable for data/power has both a USB-A and USB-C connector. Meanwhile, the drive also includes another USB-C port for dedicated power, which may be useful in case your chosen system’s data port is not up to scratch in power delivery terms.

For DVD movie playback with the Alronly USB Type-C & USB 3.0 external CD/DVD driveyou might need to find appropriate media player software. The open source VLC Player is usually a good bet, if you don’t already have a suitable tool preinstalled with your OS.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Another rampart of the consumer optical media market has crumbled away. This week, Sony Corporation has drawn a line under its Blu-ray disk recorder business. Kyodo News reports that the final Sony-branded Blu-ray recorders will be shipped this month. Importantly, this unfortunate news will have few repercussions outside of the niche Japanese market, where these devices are hooked up in living rooms to record broadcast TV. Sony will continue to ship Blu-ray players “for the time being,” notes the source.

This news doesn’t catch anyone by surprise. Sony stopped manufacturing the recorders, as well as recordable discs, this time last year, so the operation has just been running on fumes. Moreover, the Sony recorders that are seeing the last shipments this month uniquely target the Japanese domestic TV recording market.

Kyodo says that this particular recording market has finally been “snuffed out” due to the rise of streaming services. We’d guess other broadcast recording tech like HDD recorders will also have contributed to this product segment's demise.

Blu-ray players, movies, PC drives, and media are sticking around

If you are a Blu-ray media enthusiast, there is still no end in sight, though. Sony and others will continue to address the Blu-ray player market. Moreover, the Blu-ray media (movies, TV shows, etc) market appears to be niche but pretty stable. There’s no need to rush out, just yet, to get a backup player for when the manufacturing of the Blu-ray optical mechanisms ceases.

Blu-ray media users among HTPC enthusiasts shouldn’t be too concerned about Sony’s set-top recorder box withdrawal. Firms like Asus, LG, and Pioneer still seem to be making drives available in internal and external USB models. Blu-ray media is also still being produced by brands like Panasonic and Verbatim.

The Blu-ray optical drive/media format recently enjoyed its 20^th birthday. It was first announced for consumers at CES 2006, where it was enthusiastically supported by the majority of the big movie studios. That was just one year ahead of Netflix (founded in 1997) debuting its online streaming platform. In 2026, Netflix’s best quality UHD video streams run at around 16 Mbps, and are still therefore easily outgunned by the up to 100 Mbps video available to Blu-ray aficionados.

PicoIDE launched earlier this week, touted as “an open source IDE/ATAPI drive emulator for vintage computers.” This single 3.5-inch bay fitting device can replace those aging optical drives (and media) and HDDs, that your retro-PC relies on, with the convenience and capacity that modern microSD cards provide. It uses an appropriate retro-design aesthetic (in beige or black). You can back this project for as little as $69 for the base model, will free shipping in the U.S. and an expected June 14 dispatch date.

Polpotronics LLC, the outfit behind the PicoIDE, highlights the increasing issue of “worn out lasers, crashed heads, or bad sectors,” that even the best maintained vintage PCs can be prone to. At the same time like-for-like hardware replacements are getting scarcer, so a modern retro-embracing, transparent, open-source alternative becomes a compelling project.

Two versions of the PicoIDE are being made available, the PicoIDE Base ($69, beige), and the PicoIDE Deluxe ($110, beige or black). Whichever you choose, you get the following features:

• Full 3.5-inch drive bay enclosure (injection molded)
• Standard 40-pin IDE connector
• 4-pin Molex power connector
• Headers for external activity LED and action button
• SPI header for future expansion
• Emulates ATAPI CD-ROM drives and IDE fixed hard drives
• Images stored on microSD card (FAT32 or exFAT)
• CD-ROM formats: .bin/.cue (with audio track support), .iso
• HDD formats: .img, .hda, .vhd (with CHS geometry), .hdf
• LBA and CHS addressing modes for maximum compatibility
• Configurable vendor/model strings for compatibility with picky systems
• Supports PIO modes 0-4 and multi-word DMA modes 0-2
• Powered by Raspberry Pi RP2350
• IDE bus operations accelerated with PIO state machines
• Double-buffered read-ahead for optimal throughput
• Hot-swap image selection when inserting mickroSD
• Configuration via ini file on microSD
• Firmware updates from the micoSD
• High-quality TI PCM5100A DAC for audio out
• MPC-2 header for internal sound card connection
• 3.5 mm line-out jack for external audio

A killer convenience feature of the PicoIDE is its ability to hold multiple drive images, say with different DOS, Windows, OS/2 and other installations, and on-the-fly switch to load your chosen image at next-boot – all from a single micoSD card. Moreover, PicoIDE emulates a multitude of drive geometries.

PicoIDE is also truly open source. That permeates the hardware, firmware, and documentation. With all design and source files promised to be available via GitHub before the device begins shipping. Documentation is already there.

In the intro, we mentioned that you can back this project for as little as $69 for the base model, with free shipping in the U.S., and an expected June 14 dispatch date. But please remember that crowdfunding a project is not a guarantee of receiving a finished product within the timescale highlighted, if at all. Backing a crowdfunded project is more like an investment; you believe in the project and want it to succeed. You are not purchasing a retail product.

Microsoft has quietly removed ‘find album information’ and ‘update album info online’ tools from the Media Player apps supplied with Windows 11. We checked both Windows Media Player Legacy, and the latest Media Player app, and neither could connect to retrieve album artwork, track names, and other useful data like genre/composer, when an audio CD was popped in to play. Several music CDs were tried.

It might be understandable that Microsoft let this feature wither away from Windows Media Player Legacy – as it is a legacy tool. The removal of this feature in the Legacy app was confirmed by The Register earlier this week. Microsoft PR didn’t respond to that site’s queries about whether the service has been retired intentionally.

When we tested the Legacy app with a few audio CDs, we observed that musicmatch-ssl.xboxlive.com wasn’t reachable by the ‘Find Album Information’ service that is built-in.

Our efforts shifted to the new Media Player app that is the default tool for consuming video and audio, as well as handling playlists, on the latest Windows 11 packing PCs. Sadly, this app suffered from a very similar issue. The error message when I tried to update album info online read, “We couldn’t connect to the service. Check your internet connection, then try again.” There was no issue with my internet connection.

Alternative CD audio media players and rippers are available, but it is a shame those built-into the latest Windows OS distributions have been neutered in this way.

Not many computers ship with optical drives nowadays. We have reported on just a handful of PC releases in 2025 which involved optical drive hardware, ready to handle media like Blu-rays, DVDs, and CDs.

Some movie, music, and computer enthusiasts are still very fond of their optical media. Even though we are firmly in the ‘age of streaming,’ movie and music aficionados still prefer physical media due to the quality they offer, and the shifting-sands upon which streaming providers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Movies, Spotify, and others, build their offerings.

20 years ago today, the CES in Las Vegas was buzzing with talk of Blu-ray technology, players, and media. Several years in the making, Blu-rays arrived with considerable industry backing, with “seven out of the eight major movie studios announced movie titles for the launch,” reports Blu-ray.com. This successor to the DVD offered improved density and thus capacity vs earlier optical formats, largely thanks to the development of blue‑violet laser diodes – hence the name.

Blu-ray discs boosted single layer media capacity to 25GB, vs 4.7GB for DVDs, using a new 405nm blue‑violet laser combined with more advanced materials. The shorter wavelength enabled a higher numerical aperture for more pits per sq mm. This was complemented by a tighter track pitch and a thinner (but harder) protection layer to boost capacity tenfold (comparing single-layer media).

Moreover, Blu-ray’s base speed was significantly boosted, with the older DVD standard offering 11 Mbps, but the new format raising the bar to 36 Mbps. Better quality video was also delivered thanks to Blu-ray’s adoption of the AVC (H.264) codec. It retained MPEG-2 compatibility, but AVC facilitated more efficient HD video file playback at manageable bitrates.

The Blu-ray vs HD DVD format war

Blu-ray’s success wasn’t inevitable, as a rival faction of electronics companies and movie studios would ignite a high‑profile format war. Much like the VHS vs Betamax videotape format war, there could only be one winner, and Sony was on the winning side this time, being one of the biggest backers of Blu-ray. Console gamers of the late noughties became well aware of this format war, as it would also divide the PlayStation and Xbox camps.

Blu-ray's superior capacity, default console integration, copy protection, and broader studio support would mean that this format war was quite brief, with Toshiba conceding in early 2008.

Blu-rays today

Since its introduction, Blu-ray has been iterated and improved with 4K Blu-ray packing HEVC, HDR and more features into the format starting about a decade ago.

Its bitrates are still considerably better than the best mainstream streaming quality available, so it remains a cherished format among home cinema enthusiasts. Thus, Blu-ray media still clings onto some relevance in 2026, with collectors and bandwidth‑limited regions keeping the format alive. It is also still available as the physical media distribution format for some modern consoles.

Its days look numbered, though, if we look at various industry trends. Console makers are pulling away from physical media, including Blu-ray distribution, for example. Also, we saw news of Sony ending recordable Blu-ray production in 2025, and LG ending production of Blu-ray players in late 2024. Changes like this put several sturdy nails in this optical disc format’s coffin.

It seems like an age since PCs last came with Blu-ray (or any optical) disc apparatus built-in. That excludes Japan, for some reason, where we recently noticed optical drive demand surged (inc Blu-ray compatible) coinciding with the end of support for Windows 10.

We frequently report on new data storage solutions, some using optical media. It will be interesting to see if we ever get another wave of consumer optical storage hardware using this kind of physical media.

As evidenced by a recent unexpected surge of sales of optical drives as the Windows 10 upgrade cycle unfolds, Japan still uses physical media, perhaps more than any other region in the world. Due to the country's strong roots in technology and entertainment, mixed with culture, it's the only place that still prefers a disc over downloading or streaming content. Owing to that legacy, a new PC case launched in Japan by Cooler Master honors this tradition, allowing users to fit a disc drive in the MasterBox CM695, which features a 5.25-inch open bay in the front.

Usually, in modern cases this space is reserved for AIO radiators or just used for aesthetics, but the CM695's drive bay can prove to be much more functional — especially at a time when the country is migrating from Windows 10 to 11 and experiencing a dramatic surge in demand for disc drives. Not only that, but the CM695 can also hold up to four 3.5-inch hard drives for the ultimate off-the-grid media experience, or kickstart your NAS aspirations.

The rest of the chassis complements these drive bays with a vintage design that calls back to classic PC cases of the past, while still sporting a mesh grill up front, behind which lie 2x 120mm fans for optimal airflow. It's a large mid-tower enclosure, measuring about 209 mm (W) × 466 mm (D) × 478.5 mm (H), which supports GPUs up to 398mm long — plenty to house even the most gigantic cards of today.

There are actually two variants of the CM695: one with a restricted side panel authentic to vintage towers, and one with a transparent glass side panel for a more modern look. Otherwise, they both still feature solid I/O at the top with a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port at the top, allowing for up to 20Gbps transfer rates. Combined with the disc drive, you'll be able to rip discs and copy over the files to a flash drive pretty fast, or vice-versa.

It's also important to note that, unlike the recently unveiled Fujitsu Ryzen laptops that come with an optical disc drive built in, you have to supply your own for this case; it just comes with a slot for one. This might make the package seem less desirable since an external disc drive can serve the same purpose, but it's still an option for those who prefer to keep their setup consolidated.

Translating from Japanese, TSUKUMO eX., a popular computer store in Tokyo, spoke to local outlet IT Media about how they expect the case to sell in the region:

“It probably won’t be a massive hit, but there’s definitely a strong following among people who still want to build PCs the old-fashioned way. With the ongoing shift from Windows 10 to 11, those needs are growing. Being able to choose something that says ‘you don’t have to give up’ — that’s a good thing.”

The MasterBox 695 costs 24,000 yen, which comes out to roughly $157, so it's definitely not cheap, but it represents more than just surface-level value. A chance to carry forward your physical collection means more there than in the West, and, as IT Media describes it in their coverage, "If it's junk, BD drive is also," alluding to how a case like this transcends conventional budget-conscious outlooks. If you want a Blu-Ray drive in your PC, you now have an option to do so in a modern chassis.

Optical disc devotees continue to find safe ports and harbors in Japan, with the release of the new FMV Note A laptop line (machine translation). This laptop range fuses modern features like a Windows Hello webcam, USB-C power, a Copilot key, and up to an AMD Ryzen 7 7000-series APU, with what most would admit is a long past-its-prime storage and media format – a Blu-ray Disc drive. FMV is Fujitsu’s flagship Japanese consumer brand, and to get your hands on one of these (outside of the country), you will need to organize a Japan tech holiday or get creative with your payment and shipping.

FMV also has two lower-spec Intel 13^th Gen-powered FMV Note A models available in its catalog. The A75-K3 and A55-K3 share many features of the A77-K3, but notably don’t have Blu-ray drives. Instead, they have Super Multi-Drive (DVD±R DL (2-layer) burning) drives built in.

Japan won’t let go of optical discs

As alluded to in our intro, while the rest of the world phased out the design and manufacture of PCs with optical drives in the second half of the 2010s, Japan has held onto this type of removable media much more tightly.

Over the weekend, we reported on shops in Tokyo's bustling Akihabara area suddenly experiencing a meteoric rise in Windows 11 demand, alongside optical drives being snapped up. Consumer competition to purchase Blu-ray-capable optical drives was particularly fierce, according to local reports. The same Blu-ray capability could make this FMV Note A A77-K3 laptop model particularly attractive.

As for pre-built computers with built-in ODD hardware, we note that FMV isn’t alone in carrying the torch for optical drives into 2025. Our research shows that at least two other Japan-only laptops came out earlier in 2025: the Dynabook T series, based on 13^th Gen Intel CPUs, and packing Blu-ray / DVD Super Multi Drive options; and the NEC Lavie N16, based on AMD Ryzen 7 or Intel 12^th Gen processors, which were configured with a DVD Super Multi Drive.

I’m happy enough to own a portable USB DVDRW drive, like this one from LG on Amazon, for when the need arises. It has been very useful over the last decade for various desktops and laptops. The only downside is that relatives borrow it and keep forgetting to return it.

Support for Windows 10 has not officially ended (here's what to do next). Here’s an example of the most unfortunate timing for Microsoft and its OS users. The latest version of the Windows Media Creation Tool (MCT), released just a fortnight ago, “might close unexpectedly, displaying no error message,” admits Microsoft in a status update (h/t Windows Latest). Of course, Windows 10 goes EOL on October 14, and MCT was one of the most popular methods of preparing update media for Windows 11.

If you head on over to the linked Microsoft status page, you will see Microsoft has a prominent blue box advising users about the upcoming Windows EOL. In brief, it means “devices running Windows 10 will no longer receive fixes for known issues, time zone updates, technical support, or monthly security and preview updates containing protection from the latest security threats,” in Microsoft’s words.

Scroll a little further down, though, and a wrinkle that could stall some upgraders is listed as ‘Confirmed’ on October 10. Specifically, the Windows 11 MCT “might not work as expected on Windows 10.” A typical symptom will be that the tool closes unexpectedly, with no error message. Windows Latest was able to replicate this issue. Is ‘oof’ the correct word?

Workarounds: Use Windows Update or download a bootable ISO directly

Microsoft’s terrible timing is quite comical, but thankfully, users still have at least a couple of pretty simple ways to migrate to the latest version of Windows, if that is what they have decided to do. The tech giant is working to fix the MCT issue, but in the meantime, willing Windows 11 migrants can try the following:

1. Windows Update. Head on over to the Windows Update settings in Windows 10. If you aren’t already being offered a ‘Download and Install’ option there, manually check for updates by clicking the button. However, this option might not be available to you, depending on your system specs.
2. Download Windows 11 bootable media directly from Microsoft. The OS vendor advises visiting https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11 and looking for the section titled ‘Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices.’

Remember, if your system isn’t passing the Windows 11 upgrade minimum spec tests in Windows 10, the downloaded bootable ISO may need to be modified using a tool like Rufus – at your own risk. While you’re at it, don’t forget to enable local account setup if that is important for you.

We have a full and recently updated guide to bypassing Windows 11's TPM, CPU, and RAM requirements, which you may find useful. A number of Windows 10 stalwarts who wish to upgrade to something newer may instead be interested in testing one of the latest versions of Linux, like this one for older PCs, and one of these three for mainstream users.

Today marks 43 years since the first commercial Compact Disc (CD) pressing. Polygram in Germany is credited with pressing the first copies of Abba's The Visitors on this date, back in 1982. The CD format would take off in a direction which would have been highly unexpected at the time, ending up as a foundation of the Multimedia PC age. However, CDs didn’t kill the audiophile thirst for vinyl, and, on the flip side, some artists are still releasing CDs, even in the 5G and fiber digital streaming age.

While the first commercial CDs were factory pressed some 43 years ago, the discs were in development for quite some time ahead of this date. According to various sources, Sony and Philips clubbed together in 1979 to create a digital music disc.

Beethoven’s influence?

Among the first prototype CDs, a format with an 11.5cm diameter which was capable of storing an hour of music was an early front-runner. Philips apparently had a production line ready for such silver coasters. However, the final 12cm diameter and 74 minutes capacity was apparently favored as it was sufficient for a complete recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony - Sony president Norio Ohga’s favorite musical opus.

We must note that there are conflicting 74m CD audio origin stories, though. Another credits the desire for this particular uninterrupted audio duration to famed conductor Herbert von Karajan. Similarly, the Wilhelm Furtwängler’s 1951 recording of Beethoven's 9^th (74 minutes long) is said to be the reason for this time target.

By June 1980, the CD audio Red Book standard was finalized. Abba’s The Visitors entered production in Aug 1982, though wouldn’t hit retail on its new fangled format until March 1983. Meanwhile, the first CD album released in the U.S. is thought to be Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A., released in September 1984.

According to Statista, CD album sales peaked in the year 2000, with around 943 million sold in the U.S., alone. The format’s fall from grace has been pretty fast since then, but things have recovered a little since the 2020 low.

Computers and optical media

For computing enthusiasts, like us, the announcement of the CD Yellow Book standard is probably more important than the audio standard. This new standard, which would reach the market in 1985, added binary data to CD storage.

Yet another significant change came in 1988, however. In this year, the ISO 9660 standard came into being, defining a file structure for CD-ROMs. CD burners, which created another huge ripple in the PC pond, began to first become available to the public in 1992. But it would take until the latter half of the 90s, when pricing, interfaces, and software began to democratize CDs as digital storage, archiving, and sharing essentials for everyone.

Reading about people using CDs with computers in 2025, as almost as archaic sounding as the use of floppy disks. Nevertheless, some music fans still prefer physical CDs to digital platforms (and the vinyl) such desires have probably spurred the likes of Taylor Swift to release almost 20 physical variations of her latest release, The Tortured Poets Department – including CDs, LPs, and even cassettes. If you count digital variants, there are 36 editions of this album you could buy.

Details behind HoloMem’s holographic tape innovations are beginning to come into clearer view. The UK-based startup recently chatted with Blocks & Files about its potentially disruptive technology for long-term cold storage. HoloMem is another emerging storage idea which relies on optical technology - to enable holographic storage. However, it cleverly melds the durability and density advantage of optical formats with a flexible polymer ribbon-loaded cartridge, so it can usurp entrenched LTO magnetic tape storage systems with minimal friction.

HoloMem key claims

According to the inventors of HoloMem, their new cold storage technology offers far greater capacity than magnetic tape, with a much longer shelf life, and “zero energy storage” costs. HoloMem carts can fit up to 200TB, which is more than 11x the capacity of LTO-10 magnetic tape. Also, the optical-based new tech’s touted 50-year life is 10x the life of magnetic tape.

Magnetic tape has been around for 70 years or more, so it isn’t surprising that a new technology has at last been designed as a serious replacement, beating it by all key metrics. However, the HoloMem makers have revealed quite a few more attractive features of their new storage solution, which could or should lead to success.

HoloDrive attractions

Probably one of the biggest attractions of HoloMem is that it minimizes friction for users who may be interested in replacing existing tape storage. The firm claims that a HoloDrive can be integrated into a legacy cold storage system “with minimal hardware and software disruption.” This allows potential customers to phase-in HoloMem use, reducing the chance of abrupt transition issues. Moreover, its LTO-sized cartridges can be transported by a storage library’s robot transporters with no change.

Another feather in HoloMem’s cap is the technology’s reliance on cheap and off-the-shelf component products. Blocks & Files says that the holographic read/write head is just a $5 laser diode, for example. As for media, it makes use of mass-produced polymer sheets which sandwich a 16 micron thick light-sensitive polymer that “costs buttons.” The optical ribbon tapes produced, claimed to be robust and around 120 microns thick in total, work in a WORM (write-once, read-many) format.

Thanks to the storage density that the multiple layers of holograms written on these ribbons enable, HoloMem tapes need only be around 100m long for 200TB of storage. Contrast that with the 1,000m length of fragile magnetic tape that enables LTO-10’s up to 18TB capacity.

Blocks & Files shares some insight gained from talking to HoloMem founder Charlie Gale, who earned his stripes at Dyson, working on products like robot vacuum cleaners and hair dryers.

Rivals? Cerabyte and Microsoft Project Silica

Verbatim and I-O Data have pledged to continue to support the recordable optical media market. In a press release on Verbatim's Japanese site, the storage brand wrote (machine translation) that it "will respond to the trust of customers through stable supply of optical disks in the Japanese market and continuing sales." It also signaled that this statement had been precipitated by worried customers hearing about the withdrawal of other major manufacturers.

It is evident that Verbatim was stirred into making its reassurances after Sony's recent public withdrawal from the recordable Blu-ray, MiniDiscs for recording, MD data for recording, and MiniDV cassette markets. Sony will shutter its last Japanese facility where it manufactured these data storage media sometime this month. It had already stopped supplying recordable Blu-rays to consumers last summer, and it has now drawn a line under commercial supplies with the factory closure.

In its press release, Verbatim said that the stable supply of high-quality optical recordables to Japanese customers is "a top priority." It recognizes that the market is now at a major turning point with other suppliers pulling out, but repeated several times that it will continue to provide these once hugely popular optical discs to the Japanese market. This Japanese language PR highlights that particular geographic market, but it does mention the global scale of Verbatim's operations at least once.

Scooting over to the Verbatim North America site, we don't see any news releases that would worry us with regard to recordable optical supplies dwindling. Rather, we see the company proudly declare that it is "the No. 1 Optical Brand in the World." It also maintains a comprehensive ranges of many product lines, so you can buy CD-R discs in five colors, with inkjet labels, or finished to look like vinyl records, for example.

Another encouraging sign for optical disc devotees is that Verbatim has recently launched new optical disc reading/writing hardware. A new Verbatim branded Slimline Blu-ray Writer was showcased at CES 2025, and it is described as "a 4K writer equipped with Ultra HD Blu-ray playback and powered by a USB cable." Pangs of nostalgia were felt when we read that the drive comes bundled with 'Nero' software and is compatible with PC systems packing an "Intel Pentium III / AMD Duron 900 MHz or higher."

A recent report indicated that Sony plans to cut up to 250 jobs at its optical media plant, offering workers early retirement in preparation for phasing out its recordable disc production. The company has now confirmed this when it said in an interview with AV Watch that it would cease the development and production of recordable optical media discs, including Blu-ray. Furthermore, the Sony representative said, "We are not considering moving overseas," signaling the beginning of the end of recordable Blu-ray discs for consumers.

If you use Blu-ray to archive your data, you need to start purchasing recordable BD while supplies last. However, business clients and cinema buffs need not panic yet. "We will continue to sell B2B products by making them in advance, and for consumer products, we will decide on the specific end date in the future through discussions with distribution partners such as mass retailers, but we will continue to sell them for the time being."

The end of recordable Blu-ray production will reduce the number of options users have for reliable long-term storage of their data. Hard drives and SSDs last an average of five years, while Blu-ray discs could last decades, with some newer optical discs capable of lasting a hundred years.

Despite their longevity, Blu-ray discs are limited by capacity, with the largest limited to 125GB. While some Chinese researchers were able to create an optical disc format that can store up to 125TB of data, it's still in the research phase and not yet available commercially. This limitation is probably why consumers prefer the convenience of cloud storage for backups.

"The growth of the cold storage market has not reached our expectations, and the performance of the storage media business as a whole continues to be in the red," a Sony Group spokesperson said. "And we have determined that it is necessary to review the business structure to improve profitability."

Even though Sony still retains Blu-ray production for corporate customers and the film industry, the future of optical media is bleak, at least for Sony. The spokesperson added, "We aim to continue our business at an appropriate scale in line with the market environment and return to profitability through three measures: (1) the gradual termination of development and production and the reduction of the size of our workforce in the recordable optical disc media business, (2) the reduction of the size of our personnel in the tape media business, and (3) the transition to a single-company structure from April 2025 and the change to efficient operations in line with the scale of our business."

Sony is cutting 250 jobs at its recordable media manufacturing plant in northeast Japan, according to The Mainichi. The established national newspaper says that cuts are due to the reduced demand for optical media, and the continued rise of streaming services. However, a specialist physical media news outlet asserts that pressed disc production will not be impacted by the cuts at Sony, only the manufacturing of recordable media like CD-R, DVD-R, and BD-R.

The Mainichi says that around 250 jobs will go from Sony’s media manufacturing business in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, in the northeast of the country. Sources close to the matter indicate that at least some of the layoffs will come from offering early retirement packages.

A total of around 670 people currently work at the Sony Tagajo factory. We can’t be certain if the remaining workers should feel safe, as The Mainichi says that Sony will “gradually cease production of optical disc storage media products, including Blu-ray discs.”

Pressed disc production safe?

Physical media entertainment connoisseurs should perhaps not be overly concerned by the Sony optical media production cutting news. In some Community Notes added to a Twitter/X post from Wario64 highlighting this story, the President Of Physical Media claims that the job cuts in the optical media production facility won't affect pressed discs. Pressed discs are the kinds of optical discs that are mass-produced for the music, video, and gaming markets.

We often hear about the rise of streaming services impacting physical formats – covering content such as music, video, video games, and more. However, both Sony and Microsoft still ship consoles with ODD support, and some ardent physical media devotees insist on physical media to build their music, video, and games collections. Controversially, there have been occasions when previously purchased digital content has become inaccessible, sometimes forever. Yet users are being pushed online as physical outlets withdraw physical media sales. Another benefit touted by physical media fans is one of the greater audio-visual fidelity, compared to streaming.

It has been several years since an optical disc drive (ODD) was an essential component in a desktop or laptop PC. New ODD hardware is surprising to see, or sometimes we see big claims for a new ODD innovation. With optical discs firmly out of fashion among PC users, it seems quite natural that the production of (re)writeable media output is getting phased out at Sony. 

ODDs were the backup media of choice for home users from the early-2000s until the mid-2010s. Solutions that currently cover the home backup needs of the masses include external HDDs and SSDs, memory cards, thumb drives, NAS solutions, as well as a large number of cloud storage providers.

A rare LaserDisc prototype has been sold on eBay for an eye-watering sum. The Philips-made product, described as an “HD Mac 12 Glass Plate N.66733 - Laserdisc Prototype - Extra Rare” sold for nearly $1,000. What is most extraordinary is that this is simply a piece of 12-inch optical media, not hardware like a player, a decoder, or any rare movie content for the platform.

The machine-translated Italian listing appears to say that this old optical disc is a very rare sample, designed to test this new HD video technology implemented in the early 1990s. According to the seller, very few such discs are available, as they were never commercially sold. Meanwhile, the condition is described as “various,” but to us, it looks poorly aged and possibly shows signs of laser rot.

Given the above description and some memory of visiting TV and hi-fi stores in the 90s, we reckon that the prototype testing disc may contain a variety of movie clips, trailers, and technical demos. The seller might not be the original owner of this disc or had access to a player, so they can’t truthfully describe its content in a sales listing.

LaserDisc HD history

Introduced in 1993, High Definition LaserDiscs were commonly known as Hi-Vision media at the time. They used a new MUSE (Multiple sUb-nyquist Sampling) encoding format to compress the audio/video stream enough to achieve decent feature lengths onto a single platter.

Japan’s NHK was the first to broadcast HD-quality TV in 1991, with up to 11 hours per day of content available to viewers by 1995. LaserDisc HD (AKA Hi-Vision, or MUSE LD) was a physical format created to hold the same quality of audio-visual content. Sony launched some of the first movie LaserDisc HD discs, including Lawrence of Arabia, Bugsy, and A League of Their Own.

Regarding quality, the LaserDisc HD format more than doubles the resolution of NTSC, moving from 525 to 1125 scan lines, and broadens the screen aspect ratio from 4:3 to the still popular 16:9.

YouTuber Techmoan made two videos about HD LaserDiscs a few years ago. If you want to know more about the format and hear his valued opinion on the quality and value, please click through. From Techmoan’s video, we have put together the approximate optical media-based video format timeline below:

• 1978 - LaserDisc introduced just two years after the first VHS VCR
• 1993 - LaserDisc HD launched (took 14 years to arrive, but died in 1997)
• 1996 – DVD (1998: 1% of households, 2006: 85% of households) A cheaper format, but DVD video quality was ‘good enough’ for most before HD TVs proliferated
• 2006 – HD-DVD and Blu-Ray – first mass-market players / media
• Now – most people download or stream video entertainment

It is thought that LaserDisc HD ultimately failed as it was too expensive for the player and decoder, with the limited market size and cutting-edge components required at the time to play, decode, and watch the discs in HD.

Retro anything = ka-ching?

Nowadays, LaserDisc HD players are few and far between, with eBay samples priced at around $2,500, decoders at about $500, and a few movies that we checked were $350 each. If the market is such that people are willing to pay those prices for the hardware and media, it is probably not surprising that someone will buy a rare LaserDisc HD prototype for $1,000, even if it has laser rot.

Providing some perspective, ancient AV hardware and media isn’t that expensive compared to some of the prices retro computer component sales have achieved in recent years. For example, a year ago, we saw a rare 3dfx Voodoo 5 6000 sell for $15,000. In addition, a broken PCB from an Apple-1 computer prototype had a guide price of $500,000 yet sold for $677,196 in 2022.

Best Buy is set to discontinue physical media sales such as DVDs and Blu-rays in its stores, reports The Verge. This move symbolizes a significant shift in consumer behavior, steering away from physical media ownership towards a landscape dominated by digital formats and streaming platforms. The transition, aligning with broader industry tendencies, is slated to commence as early as the first quarter of 2024.

Best Buy stood as a bastion for movie and music enthusiasts for years, offering an extensive array of films and music in physical formats. The stores were meticulously curated, allowing customers to explore, hold, and purchase a rich selection of Blu-rays and DVDs, an experience reminiscent of browsing through a library. This tactile interaction with media is something that the digital navigation of streaming services cannot replicate, and Best Buy’s decision signifies a significant reduction in spaces offering such an experience. Furthermore, the image quality of movies on Blu-rays is arguably better than the quality of ‘4K’ videos on streaming services. In contrast, the image quality of the film on Ultra-HD Blu-rays is unprecedented, and it will be years before streaming services come close.

But it looks like the consumer does not see the difference. The decision reflects a more extensive industry trend, marking a decisive move towards digital consumption. Notably, corporate giants like Disney have also recalibrated their strategies, prioritizing digital subscriptions and streaming services like Disney Plus and Hulu over physical media distribution. This industry-wide evolution is changing the paradigm of media ownership, emphasizing temporary access over physical possession.

The ramifications of this shift are profound, particularly concerning consumer choice and experience. The availability of physical media in retail outlets is dwindling, restricting options for consumers who prefer owning physical copies of movies and music. This move could leave enthusiasts and collectors with limited venues to explore and purchase physical media, underscoring the diminishing prevalence of such formats in the retail landscape.

The good news is that other retailers, such as Walmart and Amazon, continue to offer physical media. However, according to The Verge, Walmart's offerings and in-store experiences may not resonate with the same charm and variety historically associated with Best Buy. Yet, despite the evolving landscape marked by the diminishing allure of physical movie shopping, Amazon and Walmart will likely become primary alternatives for consumers seeking physical media.

The Earth has an abundance of life, culture, and civilizations, but no one knows what tomorrow will bring. So, perhaps the venerable 3-2-1 backup strategy isn’t quite enough to entrust to an archive of humanity’s achievements and knowledge? Never fear; the Arch Mission Foundation (AMF) nonprofit organization was set up several years ago to distribute archives featuring the intellectual crown jewels of humanity, thus preserving it for a billion years in a multi-planetary storage archive. Its strategy centers on a solar system-wide distribution of human knowledge, which it describes as a “planetary insurance policy.”

With doomsayers increasingly foretelling WW III in recent months, you might find some solace in knowing that the AMF’s work is already well underway. It has designed the data storage media that will hold the precious billion-year archive materials, and there is already a nanofiche disc housing 30 billion pages on the moon and another in orbit inside the glove compartment of a Tesla Roadster. The next target for the AMF’s Earth knowledge dissemination project is Mars in 2025.

Looking more closely at the storage media, the AMF chose a development by NanoArchival. The so-called Nanofiche is claimed to be “space-grade, lightweight, highly durable, and efficient.” Importantly for the project, its longevity is touted to be as long as “billions of years.” That is in a best-case scenario in the cold vacuum of space, but Nanoarchival says that on the surface of the moon, this storage medium should be good for 50m years+, which is still better than the Earth’s surface, where it would be expected to last ‘just’ 10,000 years+.

A Nanofiche looks much like a conventional CD or DVD as it is a slim, silvery disc that is 120mm in diameter. Its 25 nickel film layers hold the data archives. A recent Blocks & Files report says AMF’s disc has been stuffed with a comprehensive mix of analog and digital data. Specifically, the top four layers of the disk contain over 60,000 pages which can be read via a 150 to 200X microscope. Meanwhile, the remaining 21 layers contain 100 GB of digital data, which can be uncompressed to deliver 200 GB of content, making up about 30 million pages of information in total. Thankfully, the analog viewable section provides extraction specifications for the larger digital library.

You may be interested to know what is stored on the Nanofiche discs currently being fired out into the solar system for aliens or future earth-based civilizations to discover. The answer is apparently the whole of the English language version of Wikipedia, plus tens of thousands of PDF books across multiple genres from Project Gutenberg, and many more. In future editions of the billion-year archive, more / newer knowledge will be added, possibly on multiple discs, and sent to an increasing number of out-of-this-world locations.

To keep up to date with the progress of the dissemination of Earth’s rich culture and knowledge, keep an eye on the organization’s mission page. Upcoming projects will put ‘Arch Libraries’ on Mars (ETA 2025), and in L4 and L5 orbital locations (2027).

The world's fastest data transmission speed record has been broken yet again, paving the road for increasingly instantaneous transmission of the world's entire knowledge repository. The team who achieved this feat are researchers from Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. Their novel technique leverages a single laser and a single, custom-designed optical chip enabling throughputs to the tune of 1.8 Pbit/s (Petabits per second) — double today's global internet traffic.

For scale, the same data transmission record had been previously broken back in August 2020 with a then-astonishing 178 Tbit/s (Terabits per second) — enough to download Netflix's then-existing catalog in less time than you could count a single Mississippi. But that speed is only around 10% of today's maximum throughput announcement, meaning that in less than three years we've improved the technology tenfold.

Some of the secret sauce behind the record hails from the proprietary optical chip, which can take the input from a single infrared laser to create a spectrum of many colors. Each color represents a frequency that's not unlike the teeth of a comb, perfectly and equally distinguishable from one another (this is exactly the process through which we distinguish colors, by detecting the different frequencies of light materials reflect towards us). And since these multiple frequencies are perfectly distinguishable from one another, with a set separate distance between each, that information can be transmitted across each of these frequencies (or channels). The more colors/frequencies/channels, the more data can be sent, which led to the establishment of the new 1.8 Pbit/s transmission speed world record.

Today's optical technology would require around 1,000 different lasers to produce the same amount of wavelengths capable of transmitting all of this information. That in itself is a problem; each additional laser increases energy consumption, multiplies the number of failure points, and makes the setup harder to manage.

Victor Torres Company, professor at Chalmers University of Technology and head of the research group that has developed and manufactured the chip, explained something of the team's work:

“What is special about this chip is that it produces a frequency comb with ideal characteristics for fiber-optical communications – it has high optical power and covers a broad bandwidth within the spectral region that is interesting for advanced optical communications,” he said.

Interestingly, like many other scientific "missteps", the initial design purpose wasn't to break the world's transmission throughput record:

“In fact, some of the characteristic parameters were achieved by coincidence and not by design,” Victor Torres Company added. “However, with efforts in my team, we are now capable to reverse engineer the process and achieve with high reproducibility microcombs for target applications in telecommunications.”

The research has practical applications that should be scaled out of the lab, as well - the idea isn't for this technology to grab a headline and become abandoned to the corridors of vaporware. According to professor Leif Katsuo Oxenløwe, Head of the Centre of Excellence for Silicon Photonics for Optical Communications (SPOC) at DTU, the technology shows tremendous potential for being scaled up:

“Our calculations show that—with the single chip made by Chalmers University of Technology, and a single laser—we will be able to transmit up to 100 Pbit/s. The reason for this is that our solution is scalable—both in terms of creating many frequencies and in terms of splitting the frequency comb into many spatial copies and then optically amplifying them, and using them as parallel sources with which we can transmit data. Although the comb copies must be amplified, we do not lose the qualities of the comb, which we utilize for spectrally efficient data transmission.”

It's mind-blowing to think about so much information that it could strain a 100 Pbit/s connection — around 100 times the traffic flow of today's internet. But build the highways, as they say, and the traffic will come.

Some us remember a time when every operating system booted off of a floppy disk. However, for decades now, almost every computer stores its OS on an internal drive such as a hard drive or SSD. But what if you just want to try out Windows 11 on your computer, without actually installing it? Enter Live11, which has just been made available for download, and runs Windows 11 Pro, without writing a single file to disk.

Live11 is a new lightweight Windows 11 live disk from NTDEV, the developer behind Tiny11. After downloading the image that NTDEV has posted to the Internet Archive, you can write to a USB Flash Drive, a microSD card or even, if you still have an optical drive, a DVD-R. In fact, NTDEV deliberately got the disk image down to 4.4GB, which fits within a DVD's 4.7GB capacity.

Live disks, also known as live DVDs or live CDs, have been common in the Linux world for a while, where they have been used to let users try out a Linux flavor before deciding whether or not they want to install it. However, running a Windows 11 live disk is more interesting than useful.

You can use Live11 to see the Windows 11 UI on a PC that you're considering upgrading from Windows 10, but it's not a very realistic simulation of what it would be like to run the OS for real. As it's a stripped down version of Windows 11, it's going to use less resources than a real installation. Also, it can't save settings or permanently install apps, because it doesn't actually write to disk. If you want a persistent version of Windows that you can put on a USB Flash drive, see our tutorial on how to create a portable Windows 11 disk. 

Hands on with Live11

To see what Live11 is like, I downloaded the ISO and booted it in a virtual machine, using VMWare Workstation 16. According to NTDEV, you can run Live11 in a variety of virtual machines or boot a whole computer from it, but it won't run on Oracle VirtualBox. It requires no disk space at all, but you will need at least 8GB of RAM. You do not need TPM or a Microsoft account, both of which are normally Windows 11 system requirements.

The first thing I noticed is that Live11 uses the Grub4DOS boot manager, which gives you only one choice Live11. 

Live11 then makes you go through a somewhat shortened version of the Windows 11 installation process every single time you boot it. It first asks you which country you're in, which keyboard you want and then which privacy settings you wish to turn on. It then checks for updates and makes you wait a minute or two while it "installs." NTDEV told us that they deliberately made the installation questions part of the boot process so that users would know that this is an unmodified version of Windows 11.  

Live11 is a read-only experience, even if you put it on a rewriteable USB Flash drive. It actually installs itself into a 3.99GB RAM disk, which has 319MB of free space you can use for data during your session, but it may get filled up with temporary files. After the "install," I was presented with Windows 11 Pro's default desktop with the familiar blue flower wallpaper.  I was automatically logged in with a local account under the username Administrator.  The build of Windows 11 Pro in the ISO, at present, is 22621.1555.

There are only a few apps preloaded, including Notepad, Paint, the Snipping Tool and the Terminal. Microsoft Edge is not installed, but you can run a Portable version of Mozilla Firefox if you open it from the live disk. It's a shame that there's no browser preloaded as it's annoying to have to navigate to the disk to find the executable for Firefox and, every time you open it, it wants to ask you some installation questions such as whether you want to pin it to taskbar. You can ignore these prompts and just start browsing.

With no programs running, the OS only used 1.89GB of RAM (on top of the 4GB reserved by its RAM disk). It ran smoothly in my VM, which I had given 16GB of RAM and four CPU cores. I was able to access the local, 60GB SSD I had assigned to my VM, but I had to mount and format it first. Since this is considered local storage, anything I stored on it would remain for future sessions. 

Considering that there's only about 300MB free on the C drive, if you download anything at all, you'll need to download it to a different drive. Even without any files downloaded, I found that my C drive was pretty much full, just from the act of running portable Firefox (which presumably used some virtual memory and maybe some cache space). I asked NTDEV if it's possible to make the RAM disk larger than 4GB and they said that it would be if I extracted the relevant VHM file from the Live11 ISO, expanded it and recreated the ISO. 

NTDEV also told me that it comes with VM drivers preinstalled. So, though it launched at 1024 x 768 resolution, I was able to change it to up to 3840 x 2160 or even higher if I wanted. If you are using a real PC rather than a VM, your choice of resolutions will likely be different.

Overall, I was impressed with the speed of Live11 and how quickly and easily it opened the few apps it had. If you want to try it out, you can download the latest ISO and give it a shot. We should note, though, that this is not an officially supported Windows image and comes with no warranties or support.

3D video has been a roller coaster ride for fans of the format. Remember those red and blue glasses? They represented the origin of 3D film in cinemas and on television. Then we had active shutter glasses linked with the display to create a stereoscopic image. The common thread is that glasses and 3D formats usually live and die by their quality. Ultimately, users don’t want to wear them.

Glasses-free 3D nearly achieves unicorn status, but it does exist. Using some very clever technology that includes head and eye tracking, it is possible for a display to show a 3D image without glasses. Acer partnered with SpatialLabs to offer the View 15.6-inch portable glasses-free 3D monitor.

Acer SpatialLabs View Specs

The recipe starts with a 15.6-inch IPS panel sporting a 3840x2160 resolution. That’s important because, like every 3D format, the View has to create two images per frame to deliver the stereoscopic effect. This means the two images are slightly offset from one another. Flashing them quickly fools the eyes into seeing a three-dimensional image. That also means that in 3D mode, the View is displaying 1920x1080 pixels.

The panel has two sensors in the top bezel that locate and track your head movements to keep the phasing between images synchronized. The View is strictly a one-person experience. Someone looking over your shoulder will not see a 3D picture. However, sit in the center and you will see a profound and convincing effect. The screen has an optical layer in front that splits the image for each eye, which is a bit like the frame packing used in 3D televisions and projectors. The image is then refracted digitally utilizing the sensor data and directed to the user’s eyes

Of course, you need the proper software and 3D-enabled content to make it happen. But there are games and other apps like modeling software designed to use the technology. Acer was kind enough to send me a Predator laptop loaded with God of War and other titles that play in 3D. You can also convert full-screen video to 3D using the SpatialLabs Experience app.

Taken just as a computer monitor, the View is very capable. The color gamut is Adobe RGB which isn’t quite the same as DCI-P3 in that it emphasizes green rather than red, though the two gamuts have roughly the same color volume. The View is very accurate as well, with no need for calibration. And I discovered extremely high (for IPS) contrast during testing. So, it will deliver a solid image for non-3D content as well.

Aside from software support, you must connect the View via HDMI and USB to present 3D images. The monitor also doesn’t come cheap; it’s currently priced at $1,099. And I’ll state up front that the View is not a gaming monitor, at least not if you plan to play twitchy shooters. Its refresh rate maxes at 60 Hz, and there’s no Adaptive-Sync or HDR. But if you like to explore a gaming environment or view rendered objects in a virtual 3D space, the View is a compelling choice. Let’s take a look.

Assembly and Accessories

The View ships in a slick box with premium packaging and all the necessary cabling. A small external power supply plugs into a side port, and you get HDMI and USB-A/C cables. A stand folds out from the back to prop it up at various angles.

Product 360

The View is a simple and elegant design with no extra trim or features other than what’s needed for function. The front bezel is narrow at the sides and wider at the top and bottom. The top contains two sensors to track the user’s head movements, and the bottom just has Acer and SpatialLabs logos silk screened in place.

A component bulge in the back has inputs on the left side. There is one each of HDMI 2.0, USB-C and USB-A. The round one is the power plug and a tiny blue LED shows the power status. On the right side is an SD card slot and two control keys. One of them is also a rocker switch used to navigate the OSD.

The stand runs the full width of the View and has a firmly damped hinge to keep it from sliding away from the desired position. You can adjust the screen’s angle over a wide range or fold it flat with the monitor in your lap. There is no touch screen capability here, so you can’t use the View as a tablet.

OSD Features

The View’s OSD looks just like the one you’ll find in any Acer monitor. Pressing the control button brings it up; then you can navigate and select using the rocker switch.

Basic picture controls include brightness & contrast, a blue light mode, a black boost for enhanced shadow detail, ACM (dynamic contrast) and super sharpness edge enhancement. It is recommended to max brightness when viewing 3D images, which is good advice. If the picture is too dark, it can compromise the 3D effect.

The Color menu offers a grayscale mode (black & white image) and five color temp options. The user mode has a two-point gain/bias adjustment. On the second page are five picture modes and a color space control. Its two choices, Standard and Adobe RGB, both render the same Adobe RGB gamut, but the latter has more accurate gamma. In Standard mode, you can calibrate the color temp and a 6-axis hue/saturate color system. In 3D mode, this menu is grayed out, but you can still adjust the brightness.

You’ve already noticed the brevity of the OSD. No gaming options like overdrive or Adaptive-Sync exist, and 60 Hz is the max refresh rate. 3D settings are controlled by software, so you won’t need to dig through the OSD to make those adjustments. I’ll explore how one accesses 3D gaming and other features in the Hands-on section below.

Acer SpatialLabs View Calibration Settings

Out of the box, the View is accurate enough that calibration is not required. But I found gamma too dark, and it is not adjustable. Fortunately, when I selected the Adobe RGB option in Color Space, it improved dramatically without affecting other image parameters. I’ll show you those test results later. If you want to calibrate, leave Color Space in Standard and adjust the RGB sliders. My instrumented settings are below, and note that Standard retains the full Adobe RGB gamut; there is no sRGB mode.

Gaming and Hands-on

To fully experience the SpatialLabs View, you’ll need to connect it to a PC or laptop with both HDMI and USB cables, which are provided. The monitor has an internal battery good for about five hours of use, or you can plug in the small power brick.

Seeing 3D images on the View is simple once you have the appropriate software installed. You’ll need the SpatialLabs Experience app and TrueGame, which is the launching point for 3D-enabled titles. Acer recommends an 8th Gen Intel Core i7 and a GeForce RTX 3060 for desktop PCs and an RTX 3070 for notebooks. I received a Predator Triton 500 SE laptop with my View sample. It’s equipped with an Intel Core i9 and a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti.

There are two 3D game types supported by the View, 3D+ and 3D Ultra. 3D+ looks like the effect one would see from a 3D Blu-ray, but 3D Ultra takes it to another level. It simulates two cameras to create geometric 3D objects that seemingly occupy the space in front of the viewer, irrespective of the monitor’s boundaries. At this writing, there are nine games with 3D Ultra support, and I checked out God of War, Kena: Bridge of Spirits and Psychonauts 2. 3D+ currently supports 65 games.

You can tell when 3D is activated because the effect is truly a “wow” moment, and resolution is cut in half. Initially, I was put off by the visibility of the pixel structure, but after a few minutes, that distraction faded to the background as I explored a blacksmith shop in God of War. A tiny menu in the upper left of the screen allowed me to adjust the depth of the 3D effect easily. I could move my head a little without affecting the 3D image, but turning more than 15 degrees created a crosstalk artifact. However, with such a small screen, this isn’t an issue.

Walking around dark caves in Kena: Bridge of Spirits was also a satisfying experience. Shadow detail was a little murky, and I could not change the color mode to Adobe RGB for a better gamma. Following Acer’s recommendation, I turned up the brightness to maximum, and it was a little better. But this is a minor point; the image is amazing. And only when small text messages popped up did I notice the FHD resolution. The graphics are just gorgeous, with solid detail and saturated color.

The View is not a gaming monitor for competition or fast-paced shooters like Doom Eternal. Though the image is excellent with deep contrast and vivid color, motion blur is a factor. Any movement above a walking pace reduces resolution and detail considerably. And input lag is something I could perceive, though that may be because I’m used to playing on super-fast monitors.

The SpatialLabs Experience app has an emulation function to convert 2D video into 3D using an on-screen button. I tried this with a few YouTube selections and saw varying results. Thanks to compression, YouTube quality is all over the map, even when matching resolutions. The quality of the 3D effect is tied to the quality of the original video. Hi-res examples with low compression and no fast movement convert to 3D effectively. It doesn’t have the depth of 3D Ultra, but it is as good as anything I’ve seen on a 3D television or projector. The app also has a Model Viewer function, which can import CAD and DCC files and convert them to 3D. This is a great way to represent an object design visually.

The View is a very qualified 4K monitor with excellent contrast and color for daily use. The image is razor sharp due to the pixel density of 282ppi. In the Standard Color Space mode, some black detail is hard to see, thanks to the dark gamma. But relief is as easy as switching to Adobe RGB. Color stays the same, but gamma is much lighter, making all parts of the picture well-rendered.

MORE: Best Portable Monitors

MORE: Best Budget 4K Monitors

MORE: Best Computer Monitors

I’ve never reviewed anything like the View, so rather than comparison charts, I’ll just post the test results and comment on them. I ran the same benchmarks I would for any monitor using the 2D mode exclusively.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

·  Response Time – 27ms

·  Absolute Input Lag – 61ms

The View is a 60 Hz monitor with fixed refresh and no overdrive. It draws the screen a tad faster than Acer’s claim of 30ms and has relatively low input lag for a 60 Hz display. This is not a panel for twitchy gaming or fast-paced shooters. Motion above a walking pace shows considerable blur, which is exacerbated in 3D by the 1920x1080 resolution. 2D images are 3840 x 2160 so blur is less noticeable there. But gaming with the View is better when the environment is one you’ll want to take time to explore rather than ripping through hordes of enemies in a frantic battle.

Viewing Angles

The View is an excellent example of IPS viewing angles with less than 10% light falloff to the sides and almost no color shift. If you stare at the photo above long enough, you’ll perceive a slight coolness in the horizontal shot. But gamma remains stable with all detail clearly visible at every brightness level. The vertical view goes red and dims by around 50% but retains good detail rendering. Note that these photos were taken in 2D mode.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

·  Screen Uniformity – Deviation From Center: 7.00%

The View has a high-quality panel with no visible glow or bleed in all-black test patterns. The extra optical layer added for 3D imagery does not affect 2D pictures. You’d never know the View differs from any premium IPS panel.

MORE: Best Portable Monitors

MORE: Best Budget 4K Monitors

MORE: Best Computer Monitors

To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

·  Maximum White Luminance – 362.5095 nits

·  Maximum Black Luminance – 0.2301 nit

·  Maximum Contrast Ratio – 1575.2:1

The View delivers plenty of light output, which is needed for the best 3D effect. Acer recommends turning up the brightness all the way in 3D mode, and I echo that suggestion. Though 362 nits is bright, it never produces a harsh image. Black levels are quite low, and the View has superb contrast, more than any other IPS panel I’ve tested.

After Calibration to 200 nits

·  Black Luminance - 0.1312 nit

·  Contrast Ratio – 1535.4:1

·  16-point ANSI Contrast Ratio – 1386.3:1

Calibration reduces contrast slightly though I could not see a difference thanks to the dark gamma. I’ll talk about that later because you have some choices to make there. Black levels are still very low, which enhances image depth and quality. It’s an asset in 3D mode too.

ANSI contrast is only slightly lower than static, which further speaks to the View’s quality control and premium componentry. It is expensive but exceptionally well made.

MORE: Best Portable Monitors

MORE: Best Budget 4K Monitors

MORE: Best Computer Monitors

The View has several picture modes, but I confined my tests to just User and Standard. They both employ the Adobe RGB gamut, there is no sRGB mode.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

There’s certainly nothing to complain about here with regard to grayscale tracking. The slightly elevated green level at 100% in the default chart can be fixed with a one-click reduction to the contrast slider. I calibrated the User color temp and got even better results.

The only issue here is gamma which is dark in tone. There are no gamma presets, but if you engage the Adobe RGB setting in Color Space, gamma drops to a more linear 2.11 average. While this is a tad light, it makes the picture look better. And you can still adjust the brightness if you wish.

· Grayscale Error Default – 1.64dE

· Grayscale Error Calibrated – 0.83dE

· Grayscale Error Adobe RGB – 1.64dE

· Gamma Value Range Standard – 0.24

· Gamma Value Range Adobe RGB – 0.12

· Average Gamma, Deviation From 2.2 Standard – 10.00% (2.42 actual value)

· Average Gamma, Deviation From 2.2 Adobe RGB – 4.09% (2.11 actual value)

Grayscale tracking is about the same in either Standard or Adobe RGB modes, but gamma is closer to the mark in the latter.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

Regardless of picture mode or Color Space option, the View is an Adobe RGB monitor. That wide gamut emphasizes green rather than the extra red found in DCI-P3. This is not to say that it pushes green, far from it. The View is very accurate and right out of the box; it hits the color targets with just a bit of over-saturation. 2.38dE average is an invisible error.

With calibration, the error only drops by 0.01dE, infinitesimal. But you can get even better color in the Adobe RGB mode, which has a reference-level 1.36dE average error. Add to that its superior gamma and the choice is clear.

Comparisons

· Color Gamut Error – 2.37dE (User, calibrated), 1.36dE (Adobe RGB)

· Color Gamut Volume – 100.89% DCI-P3, 149.58% sRGB, 102.56% Adobe RGB

Color errors are below the visible threshold no matter how you set the View up, which is excellent performance. Gamut volume is about the same for both Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 but don’t be fooled; a P3 monitor will have deeper reds. The View is still very colorful, but it excels in green, making things like grass and trees look lusher.

MORE: Best Portable Monitors

MORE: Best Budget 4K Monitors

MORE: Best Computer Monitors

The history of 3D video shows the industry's and enthusiasts' real effort to elevate it beyond gimmick status. Modern formats like Imax and frame-packed Blu-ray can create a convincing 3D image that immerses the viewer. I’ll never forget the first time I saw Avatar in a premium Imax theater. It was and still is a formative experience. I didn’t mind wearing the glasses then, but the idea of glasses-free 3D is always attractive.

The Acer SpatialLabs View is more than a few steps in the right direction. Not only can it mimic the look of a 3D TV for video and games, but the 3D Ultra feature also goes way beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, only nine games currently support it, but it is undeniably one of the coolest things in the gaming world.

As a gaming monitor, the View is not something you’ll want for fast-motion titles like Doom Eternal. Leave those to the fast refresh Adaptive-Sync models. The View tops out at a fixed 60 Hz. But in 2D, adventure games are a lot of fun thanks to the 4K screen with 282ppi pixel density, excellent contrast and very saturated & accurate color. 3D reduces that resolution to FHD, but that truly doesn’t matter. The suspension of disbelief is something you must experience to appreciate.

As a workday display, it is one of the best portables I’ve reviewed, thanks to accurate Adobe RGB color and greater contrast than nearly any IPS panel out there. Plenty of brightness means you can use it just about anywhere. And a five-hour battery life means it’s qualified for a spot in the road warrior’s tech bag.

The Acer SpatialLabs View is a special display and at this writing, is unique. It’s a premium purchase at $1,099, but that number is relative since nothing else can do what it does. If you’re a fan of 3D imagery, the View is a monitor you should keep in mind.

MORE: Best Portable Monitors

MORE: Best Budget 4K Monitors

MORE: Best Computer Monitors

NTDEV, the electronics student and YouTuber behind the Tiny11 and Tiny10 Windows shrinking projects, is embarking upon another fascinating venture, provisionally titled Live11. There's a clue in the name — but if you haven’t got it, it's a live image of Tiny11 which fits on a DVD and will load completely into RAM and boot.

In the embedded Tweet above, you can see a video that appears to show the full boot process recorded from the computer screen (as well as a little bit of Windows action). At the start of the video we see the output of what appears to be Grub4Dos, a bootloader which is commonly used for making bootable Windows and Linux disks, USB drives, CDs, DVDs, etc. This appears to read 4GB of data from the Live11 DVD, shovel it into RAM, and then boot from the RAM disk that has been set up.

The preliminary file copy operation takes just under a minute. After this, we see the familiar Windows logo appear with the spinning dots. This actual Windows 11 booting process from RAM disk takes approximately 12 seconds. On the topic of timing, the teaser demo came from a virtual machine (running in VMWare), and, due to the 4GB copy speed, we think the 'live image' was most likely a disk image saved on the system's SSD — not an actual physical DVD.

On the Widows desktop, NTDEV prods around a little to demonstrate the 'proof of concept.' Here we see that the RAM disk is 3.87GB with just 324MB of free space remaining. The task manager shows that the PC in use is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS, and the virtual machine has been allocated 8GB of memory, of which 4GB is available and 1.3GB is in use by Windows.

This is an interesting project for people interested in having a lightweight live image of the newest version of Windows for testing or whatnot. It could be a familiar friend if something goes wrong with your computer, but would probably be more practical as a USB stick than a 'DVD' in 2023. Of course, there are also purpose-built bootable images for trouble shooting, with all sorts of software tools pre-installed — or you can always make your own.

NTDEV recently launched Tiny10 for older, slower PCs, and we previously reported on Tiny11 for its ability to shoehorn the latest Microsoft OS into systems with as little as 200MB of RAM.

We all want our data to be safe and in Japan there is the so-called Electronic Books Preservation Act which mandates that certain types of tax-related data has to be preserved electronically for 100 years. But, so far, most recordable Blu-ray discs, a popular standard for cold storage, are not designed to last that long. 

To enable its customers to comply with requirements for long term storage, Pioneer recently released the industry's first "DM for Archive" badged Blu-ray optical disc drive (ODD) and BD-R discs that promise to last for a century, reports PC Watch. 

Long Term Storage Media Needed

The industry uses several types of media for storing digital data, the most popular are NAND flash, hard drives, tape, and optical discs and all of them can degrade over time. NAND memory can lose its electric charges, hard drives' mechanics can fail and the media's magnetic charge can wear out, tape can degrade and lose its magnetic charge and the foil used in optical discs can disintegrate over time. When stored properly (away from heat, humidity, UV rays), tapes can last 30 – 50 years. 

According  to the Canadian Conservation Institute, which publishes a paper on media longevity, BD-R discs are expected to last between 5 and 20 years, depending on the material they are made out of. BD-RE, which is erasable Blu-ray, is estimated for 20 to 50 years while DVD-R and CD-R, which hold a lot less data, can last 50 to 100 years.

To ensure that agencies comply with the 100-year requirement, the Japanese government has developed its JIS X6257 quality standard for optical discs and the recording methods used to write to them. Meanwhile the Japan Document Information Management Association (JIIMA) has defined a set of certification methods for optical media that complies with the JIS X6257 standard. 

Discs recorded using an X6257-compliant method that pass JIIMA's tests — which are conducted accordance with the international ISO/IEC 16963:2017 standard for accelerated ageing test methods — are marked as DM for Archive.

Pioneer's DM for Archive ODD and BD-Rs

Pioneer's BDR-WX01DM Blu-ray recorder is the industry's first optical disc drive that meets the JIS X6257 requirements for disc quality and recording methods and therefore carries the DM for Archive mark. The drive also uses highly reliable motors, durable mechanical systems, and a dust shield structure, so it is somewhat more reliable than inexpensive optical disc drives for PCs.

The drive connects to its host PC using a USB 3.0 Type-A interface; its maximum writing speeds are 12x speed for BD-R, 16x speed for DVD-R, and 40x speed for CD-R media. The ODD is also compatible with M-Disc media (which uses glassy carbon for data layers that is inert for oxidation) that promises to last for 1,000 years. 

The key selling point of the product is that it can record data using an X6257-compliant method that is supported by the bundled DM Archiver application which not only burns data using a certified technique, but can encrypt files, and check recording quality. 

Meanwhile, Pioneer also sells its IPS-BD11J03P DM for Archive-badged BD-Rs that promise to be good enough to store data for 100 years or more if recorded using an X6257-compliant method. The disc itself uses a metal nitride membrane for data layers, just like other Blu-ray discs, and is compatible with all devices that can read Blu-ray.

Not So Cheap

Storing data for a century is not cheap. The Pioneer BDR-WX01DM costs ¥59,800 (around $400 without VAT), whereas a pack of three 25GB IPS-BD11J03P BD-Rs retails for ￥2,340 ($15.75 without a tax).  

Keeping in mind that both the ODD and the media are generally meant to be used by government agencies as well as parties interested in storing data for the long term, the price is hardly something that will scare them off. Furthermore, even DM for Archive discs have to be stored in special environments to ensure their safety, which means additional costs. While it is recommended that long-term storage facilities are located in earthquake-resistant buildings with fire prevention equipment, discs have to be stored at 10°C to 25°C with humidity between 40% and 60% (note that humidity of 60% can be harmful for things like tape). 

While BD-Rs that are meant to last for 100 years represent a major achievement, we can only wonder whether someone will still be manufacturing optical disc drives some 100+ years down the road and if there will still be PCs that can connect to them? Anyway, while 100 years for DM for Archive BD-Rs and 1,000 years for M-Discs seems impressive, it looks like the best way of preserving data for personal use is to back it up regularly to multiple sources. 

Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system has been available on the retail market for over seven years and was superseded by Windows 11 in October 2021. However, despite its age, Windows 10 remains the most popular version of Windows, with a global market share of 67.95% in December 2022 compared to 16.97% for Windows 11, according to StatCounter. 

But it now looks like Microsoft is ready to put the brakes on issuing new Windows 10 licenses to everyday consumers. Microsoft's official product pages for Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro now include the following disclaimer:

January 31, 2023 will be the last day this Windows 10 download is offered for sale. Windows 10 will remain supported with security updates that help protect your PC from viruses, spyware, and other malware until October 14, 2025. 

So, if you want to download the software directly from Microsoft, you only have a few weeks before the company pulls the plug. Microsoft currently offers Windows 10 Home as a direct download for $139, while Windows 10 Pro will set you back $199.

But remember, this only pertains to Windows 10 downloads bought directly from Microsoft by general consumers. Moreover, we don't know what kind of backroom deals Microsoft has with its vast army of OEM PC partners, so it's entirely possible that they might still be able to purchase Windows 10 licenses for the foreseeable future. 

Although Microsoft is ending consumer sales of Windows 10 via its web store, there are still plenty of other avenues to download the operating system or purchase it on DVD. For example, Amazon offers the OEM version of Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro on DVD for $109.99 and $146.99, respectively. Alternatively, online sites like Kinguin offer Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro product keys for well under $30, which is an excellent avenue for DIYers looking to save a few bucks when building a new system. 

It's pretty clear why Microsoft is on track to sunset sales of Windows 10; it wants to push as many people over to its current Windows 11 operating system as quickly as possible. Microsoft will end Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025, which means no more security or antivirus/malware protection. Not surprisingly, Microsoft would prefer that customers not wait that long and make the free upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 sooner rather than later.

Over at Twitter, Paulo7x8 has unveiled his exciting new PlayStation 1 Optical Disc drive Emulator (ODE) project which uses our favorite microcontroller—the Raspberry Pi Pico. It’s designed to read disc image files for the original PlayStation and can trick the original console into reading them as if they were a real disc.

The Pico serves as an interface between the PlayStation CD drive and the microSD card attached to a custom PCB  that sees the Raspberry Pi Pico surface mount solder to it. ROMs, in this case, disc image files, are stored on the microSD card. The PCB is connected to the PlayStation which recognizes the connection as a disc inserted in the disc drive. This enables the system to send ROM files directly to the original hardware.

This is exciting for fans of the original PS1 that prefer to emulate using original hardware. Exercise caution when proceeding with retro gaming emulation as there are legal concerns with using copyrighted ROMs and disc images that vary between countries. You can always find free and legal homebrew ROMs that often provide alternative games developed by PlayStation enthusiasts.

The only hardware you’ll need to recreate this project is the PCB created by Paulo7x8, a Raspberry Pi Pico, microSD card and an original PlayStation. There are similar kits on the market, like the XStation Optical Discdrive Emulator ODE Mod Kit but it doesn’t use a Pico. You can check it out over at Castle Mania Games.

As of writing, the project is not yet available for users to download or purchase. However, Paulo 7x8 did confirm future plans to make the project open source so users will be able to access the original PCB files as well as peruse the code that makes it possible. Until then, you can check it out over at Twitter to see it in action.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project, be sure to follow Paulo7x8 to keep up with updates and find out when its available.

IBM started to ship diskettes in 1973 and this type of removable storage media eventually become so popular that Japanese government agencies imposed a rule to submit data on diskettes and over time on CD-ROMs. Apparently, this rule is still valid, so officials have been using diskettes and CD-ROMs — instead of emails or cloud storage services — to submit data to this day. 

Some of Japan's Ministers of State think that it's time to move forward.

"Where can you buy floppy disks these days?" Taro Kono, Japan's Minister of Digital Affairs, asked reporters rhetorically on Tuesday, reports Nikkei. "We will change [these rules] promptly." 

At present, Japanese laws contain 1,900 provisions requiring the use of obsolete storage media, such as 3.5-inch diskettes or CD-ROMs. Going digital will make Japanese government agencies more efficient overall as file transfers via the Internet are quicker. But, like other authorities, Japanese government agencies must follow rules meticulously — and so the Japanese government has created a task force to revise the rules set decades ago. 

Nowadays it is not only hard to obtain diskettes (as they are barely manufactured by anyone), it's also difficult to use them to store anything, because modern text and spreadsheet files require much more space than their predecessors from the 1980s and 1990s. There are still applications that rely on file formats (and even software) released 30 or 40 years ago — and can therefore be stored on diskettes and/or CD-ROMs — the world has mostly moved on to USB flash drives, Blu-ray discs, and cloud storage services, all of which have larger capacities and are more efficient and reliable.  

That said, there are some industries that use diskettes and will continue to use them for a while. For example, some Boeing 747-400 planes use 3.5-inch diskettes for avionics software. Also, some of military equipment and sections (such as nuclear forces) continue to use not only 8-inch diskettes, but even punched cards. 

With thousands of laws requiring usage of diskettes or CD-ROMs, we assume it will take quite some time before the obsolete storage media goes extinct. Until then, one can still enjoy an external 3.5-inch diskette reader even on Windows 11 machines for as little as $20 — though it does require a special driver from Microsoft. 

Physical media is back from the dead, or at least that's the opinion of Pioneer, which just launched a new optical disc drive (ODD) for desktop or media center PCs with a spare 5.25 inch bay. Yes, it's 2022, but there are allegedly still ODD holdouts. For them, the Pioneer BDR-213JBK doubles the maximum write speed on Blu-ray discs and covers the full gamut of reading and writing optical media including CDs, DVDs, and BDs, plus a multitude of sub-variants.

Pioneer says it improved both recording quality, and this handsome and not at all over-the-hill device has a textured hairline finish and blue LED on its façade, alongside the classic silver embossed Pioneer logo. In case you don't know what you might use an ODD for in 2022, Pioneer has some helpful suggestions.

"With the spread of telework these days, there are increasing opportunities to store large amounts of data such as work data and online conference recordings at home," writes the iconic Japanese Hi-Fi and technology brand. "The demand for optical discs and optical drives is expected to increase," it adds, with some degree of wishful thinking.

Highlights of the new drive include its up to 16x speed recording performance on BD-R discs (single-layer 25GB). If you are looking for greater capacity than speed, Pioneer says that the BDR-213JBK can record BD-R (2 layers, 50GB) at 14x speed, BD-R XL (3 layers, 100GB) at 8x speed, and BD-R XL (4 layers, 128GB capacity). For video playback purposes you might want to burn 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, and these can be recorded at 6x speeds. Meanwhile for DVDs the top recording speed is 16x, and for CDs it maxes out at 48x.

For audio CD recording, a feature called Pure Read 3 may be attractive. Pioneer says this allows the drive to adjust its reading method if it encounters difficulty due to a scratch or dirt on the ODD surface. Another interesting feature of the Pioneer BDR-213JBK is its high-speed recording capability using M-Discs, which are designed for long-term archival storage.

And just in case you need some extra software, besides its own system utilities, Pioneer provides a host of CyberLink software that will help you to edit videos and burn discs. CyberLink? Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time... a long time. [Checks calendar again. Yup, it's still 2022.]

Pioneer has a lengthy and multi-layered table to let customers know precisely what ODD formats it supports the reading, playback and writing of. It seems to cover a very wide gamut of formats, but if you are doubtful whether some particular ODD you are interested in using is compatible, then please check out the top linked press release.

Some non-format related specs include; the Serial ATA 3.0 interface, the possibility of horizontal or vertical orientation, the drive's 4MB buffer, its 148 x 42.3 x 181mm dimensions, and 740g weight.

The Pioneer BDR-213JBK is already up for sale in Japan for the local equivalent of about $150, including sales tax. So if you're looking at your PC and thinking, "What this box really needs in 2022 is an optical drive," Pioneer has got you covered.

Intel's 12th Generation Alder Lake processors have already gained plenty of plaudits, sitting comfortably on our list of Best CPUs. Unfortunately, however, Intel giveth, and it taketh away. While some public has shed tears about disabled AVX-512 extensions, perhaps a more significant segment of PC users will be perturbed by the deprecation of the Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX).

The biggest problem with disabled SGX, as reported by Heise.de, is that the rigorous DRM specified by the Blu-ray Disc Association checks SGX and uses it to prevent the video streams on the discs from being purloined. Of course, this presents a big problem to those who want to upgrade, for example, from an older Home Theater PC (HTPC) to one packing one of the newer Intel processors.

Ultra HD Blu-rays with a 4K resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels) require PCs with a CPU featuring SGX, as part of the chain of trust, in addition to High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) 2.2 from HDMI 2.0 and Advanced Access Content System (AACS) 2.0 copy protection.

SGX Has a Checkered History

Before we go on, it is worth mentioning that for everyday PC users who don't have a UHD Blu-ray drive or an interest in playing such media, SGX has a checkered history, and its demise is probably a blessing. Unfortunately, however, in recent years/months, and ironically, many malware attacks have used flaws in the SGX implementation as vectors to hack PC systems with processors featuring this security extension. To read more about these unfortunate SGX related shenanigans, check back on our reports about the likes of Plunder Volt, LVI, SmashEx, Cache Out, and ForeShadow.

SGX Was Depreciated Originally on 11th Gen

Keen PC watchers will be aware that PCs with 11th Generation Rocket Lake Core processors (Rocket Lake, RKL) faced the same problem with SGX depreciated. However, it would have been easy to miss reports concerning SGX depreciation on RKL if you weren't looking to upgrade at that time, so we think it is worth highlighting that this feature is missing once again.

Those using HTPCs for UHD Blu-rays Should Stick to Intel's 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Gen Core Processors for Now

With the leaky and vulnerable nature of SGX outlined above, it doesn't look likely to come back. So, you might be wondering what UHD Blu-ray enthusiasts will be able to do when their older compatible PCs start to bite the dust. Intel's 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Gen Core Processors work with UHD Blu-rays on Windows 10. Even so, you should check specs carefully as the problems which prevented 6th Gen Core processors from running with SGX enabled continued to cause teething troubles with the 7th Gen Core processors and motherboards.

There isn't just an insurmountable hardware problem for modern Intel RKL/ADL PCs trying to play UHD Blu-rays. Video editing and playback specialist CyberLink recommends owners of these disc libraries to avoid Windows 11 and stick to Windows 10 to avoid driver issues. According to Microsoft, Windows 10 will lose support after October 2025.

With UHD Blu-ray discs still in demand by movie enthusiasts and being produced by studios, it looks like using PCs to view this content will be frozen in time. If you have a problem with your compatible HTPC, you will perhaps look on the used or NOS market for processors, etc. However, we hope that for the sake of collectors who prefer PC playback, the Blu-ray Disc Association will work with significant PC industry players to enable some other hardware solution. At this time, such cooperation looks like the only future for PC systems to play its UHD Blu-ray disc-based content on modern hardware. Of course, if PC avenues are closed down, one might turn to a dedicated player or modern games console for UHD Blu-ray consumption.

Researchers with the University of Southampton, UK, published research eerily reminiscent of the sci-fi concept of a "data cube" -- promising incommensurate storage in a palm-sized device. However, that concept may be much closer to reality than expected, as the research describes a new, high-speed laser method of writing onto 5D structures. The 5D structure, built out of silica glass, can support long-term writings - and achieve storage densities that are 10,000x higher than current Blu-Ray technology. 

The new laser technology enabled the researchers to write in five dimensions - two optical and three spatial. The new approach can achieve write speeds of 1,000,000 voxels per second, the equivalent of 230 kilobytes of data (more than 100 pages of text) per second. That may sound ridiculously slow by today's standards - just look at the speeds the best SSDs achieve in comparison, such as 5,000 MB per second writes on the Samsung 980 Pro. However, some particular use-cases could benefit very much from such a technology, such as museums, libraries, and sure, the Ark-paradigm in science fiction. Furthermore, this technology actually could translate into real-world, cold-storage applications.

"Individuals and organizations are generating ever-larger datasets, creating the desperate need for more efficient forms of data storage with a high capacity, low energy consumption and long lifetime," said doctoral researcher Yuhao Lei from the University of Southampton in the UK. "While cloud-based systems are designed more for temporary data, we believe that 5D data storage in glass could be useful for longer-term data storage for national archives, museums, libraries or private organizations."

The team decided to test-drive their technology by writing 5 GB of data onto a 5D, silica glass disk. The researchers then asked one of the essential questions regarding storage techniques - is the data you are writing stable enough that you can get it back from its written state? The answer was a 100% successful readout. However, the test was conducted in only a small portion of the available medium - if filled to the brim, the silica glass disc would be able to hold 500 TB of data. The researchers say that with improvements to the writing techniques, particularly by taking advantage of parallelism, they can design a system that can fill that same 500 TB in a mere 60 days. The picture is a nice one: imagine if 500 TB of backup-only storage could be condensed onto a single external hard drive. That's the density scale advantage of this medium, compared to the file servers one would need today.

How the data is recorded onto the medium is eerily reminiscent of Blade Runner 2049's data spheres built from what appeared to be glass. Unfortunately, they also exhibited cracks that turned the medium unreadable. That would also seem to be the case on these particular silica glass data storage devices. The way of inscribing information is through extremely localized and precision-guided interactions between a high-repetition femtosecond laser and the silica glass structure. Essentially, the technique involves conducting extremely controlled explosions inside the silica structure. These explosions are controlled for temperature due to the nature of the laser's interaction with the silica glass and the resulting data structures (a nanolamella-like structure measuring just 500 by 50 nanometers each) can then be read back.

The 3D part of the object is easy enough to understand - it's a cube. However, the data density of this technique isn't achieved merely via a spatial arrangement of information. The fourth dimension of storage is achieved by considering the light's slow axis orientation through the nanolamella-like structure, for which the researchers explore behaviors of a particle called soliton. This allows another set of binary (1,0) coordinates to be referenced and read from a single point in the data cube's space. If there's a soliton, it's set to 1. If there isn't a soliton, it's set to 0.

The 5D part refers to an effect called strength of retardance, which is generally defined by the size of a nanostructure. As the nanostructure's size increases, so does the strength of retardance  - another element that results in differences in light speed as it traverses the material. 

"This new approach improves the data writing speed to a practical level, so we can write tens of gigabytes of data in a reasonable time," said Lei. "The highly localized, precision nanostructures enable a higher data capacity because more voxels can be written in a unit volume. In addition, using pulsed light reduces the energy needed for writing." 

Research has already demonstrated that 5D data storage in silica glass could last basically forever. So long as we don't let these glass storage devices fall - or crack, of course. And with these new nanolamella-like structures being measured at a nanometer scale, I suppose there's an image for the future where it's still used as a technological advancement buzzword - if not for transistors anymore, then for nanolamellas and the data cube storage of (yesterday's) sci-fi. The nm will live on. 

Icy Dock this week announced a new M.2 enclosure that can house up to 12 M.2 SSDs and is the size of a single, 5.25-inch optical drive bay. You can install the ToughArmor MB872MP-B directly into your best PC case  — if you still have a case that even supports external 5.25-inch drives. 

The ToughArmor MB872MP-B can be a really cool option for those with mass storage needs. Housing up to 12 M.2 SSDs can be great for NAS or server use, for example.

The ToughARmor MB872MP-B supports drive sizes from 30mm all the way to 110mm (2230 / 2242 / 2260 / 2280 / 22110). The only obvious downside of this drive rack is the lack of NVMe support; the only M.2 form factor drives it supports are SATA-based. That means you're limited to 6 Gbps speeds.

All 12 SSDs are connected via three custom OcuLink (SFF-8612) data connectors and two SATA 15-pin power connectors.

For cooling, the chambers are specialized slimline trays. They're made with a thick aluminum to help act as a heatsink for keeping the M.2 drives cool. There's also a 40mm fan is installed to ensure active airflow is going over all the drives.

The ToughArmor MB872MP-B is currently available for $773.

Among the numerous issues surrounding CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077, the Poland developer faces another challenge. The company could soon be facing a class-action lawsuit that accuses the developer of "misrepresentation in order to receive financial benefits."

As reported by The New York Times, Warsaw attorney and CD Projekt Red investor Mikołaj Orzechowski has brought forward a motion to accuse the company of pulling the wool over  investor's eyes.

"My name is Mikołaj Orzechowski, I am a Warsaw attorney and at the same time a CDPR investor. In connection with the recent events - and in particular the suspension of the sale of the CYBERPUNK 2077 product, we are currently analyzing, together with the law firm's team, the grounds for bringing a class action together with the notification of the possibility of committing a crime under Art. 286 of the Penal Code. - misrepresentation in order to obtain financial benefits"  states Mikołaj Orzechowski.

He mentions contacting him if any other investors are eager to move forward with this. So at the moment, it would seem that only one person is looking to pursue this, that doesn't mean that others may not join the cause. That said, if this goes forward, it remains to be seen how this would affect CD Projekt Red.

But Orzechowski isn't the only one going after the company. There are at least three others, as shared by a Yahoo Finance and Business Wire press release. These include  New York firm Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, the Los Angeles-based Schall Law Firm, and the investor rights law firm Rosen Law. All are urging any investors who've lost money to contact them. 

This idea of a lawsuit comes after several companies, including Microsoft, Sony, Best Buy, Gamestop, and even CD Projekt Red changed their refund policies to accommodate the game's frustrated owners. These refunds may reversed the previous announcement that Cyberpunk 2077 made up all its investment costs on its release.

Following the release of Cyberpunk 2077, the game has been under fire thanks to the abysmal performance on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, the vast number of glitches that have plagued all version of the game, and more recently, the "bug" that can cause corruption on PC game saves. 

Just when we thought everything was fine and frustrated owners of Cyberpunk 2077 could request a refund from either Sony or Microsoft, that doesn't seem to be the case. Earlier today, CD Projekt Red finally acknowledged that it had misled consumers by withholding demos of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game. The company also said that customers who purchased the game on either the PlayStation Store or Xbox Live could request a refund. However, it doesn't seem like the company ran this decision past either Microsoft or Sony – numerous reports have cropped up that frustrated customers have encountered several roadblocks in their attempts to secure a refund. We've reached out to both Sony and Microsoft on the matter, and Microsoft provided us with a statement. 

On the Sony side of things, we've seen multiple complaints from owners of the PlayStation 4 version of the game that have attempted to get a refund, but the company responded that its policy does not allow for refunds if the game was already downloaded and played. Of course, this is a complete 180 following the events this past weekend when Sony processed refunds. 

This could be a direct result of CD Projekt Red telling everyone to go to Sony and Microsoft for refunds. Sony may not like the idea of shelling out what could be an unimaginable amount of money for refunds as a direct result of CD Projekt Red's ongoing controversy. In some instances, Sony has told those looking for a refund that they'll have a functional game in February 2021.  

We reached out to Sony regarding the matter, but we haven't received a reply yet.

Microsoft, on the other hand, at least has a process that it's following. We reached out and the company provided the following statement about the situation:

“We provide Digital Game Product refunds as part of a consistent and reliable buying experience. For more details on our digital game purchase refund terms, please visit our Xbox support page here. To request an Xbox refund, please follow the steps listed on our Xbox refund page here. For any further questions on “Cyberpunk 2077,” please reach out to CD Projekt Red.” — Microsoft spokesperson.

While Microsoft hasn't flat out denied refunds, it does mention its refund terms and will likely use them to decide whether it will grant a refund or not. As stated by Microsoft, "Submitting a request does not guarantee a refund," so your mileage may vary depending on who looks over your request.

As for those who've purchased a physical copy, CD Projekt Red recommends contacting the store you purchased the game from and asking for a refund. If you aren't successful, you can then reach out to CD Projekt Red at helpmerefund@cdprojektred.com. We've reached out to the company to find out how it will handle the refunds, but have yet to receive a reply.

If you're ok with waiting for CD Projekt Red to patch the game, the company has mentioned that it is working on updates and will release one in January 2021 and another during February 2021. It remains to be seen if these patches will address the numerous issues with the game.

CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 is slated for a release date of December 10th and it appears promotional content for the game is already being sent out to stores in preparation for the release. Mikeymorphin on Twitter posted a photo with the promotional content, including Cyberpunk 2077's PS4 Pro physical game copies.

Interestingly it appears that the physical copies of the game come with two Blu-ray discs in the packaging. It is possible the second disc is there for extra optional content and it's also possible that other platforms such as PC, PS5 or XBox will come on only one disc as the photo  

The game itself requires 70GB so it makes some sense that it might need two Blu-rays as a single disc can only house 25GBs per side (50GB for dual-layer discs). Of course, that's assuming that the CD Projekt Red couldn't compress the content so it fits in 50GB and doesn't want to force users to download at least another 20GB of content on install. 

This two-disc inconvenience is only necessary if you will purchase a physical copy of the game. On every platform, including PC, there will be a downloadable version. 

If you're planning to play Cyberpunk 2077 on your PC, see our article on Cyberpunk 2077 System requirements, where we document not only what CD Projekt Red recommends but what we think you'll really need to have a good Cyberpunk experience.

All of our boards are of the smaller Micro ATX form factor, and with them also being so inexpensive, some features will be missing or not the same quality as other more premium (and expensive) boards. We’ll see SATA port counts range from four to six, one or two M.2 sockets, Gigabit Ethernet and different audio codecs than pricier options. Read on for a complete list of specifications and features from each board, see how they performed in testing and which board receives our nod of budget-friendly approval.

Motherboards come in all shapes, sizes, and price points. Recently, we looked at the least expensive B550 motherboards we could find and pair them with a high-end CPU. Fast forward to today and we’ve done the same thing but with Z490-based motherboards. Like the B550 roundup, we’ll look at inexpensive Micro ATX boards and see how they perform with our flagship i9-10900K compared to much pricier offerings.

We were able to procure three boards for this roundup, an ASRock Z490M Pro 4 ($134.99), Asus Prime Z490M-Plus ($149.99), and a Gigabyte Z490M Gaming X ($159.99). Missing from this roundup is the MSI MPG Z490M Gaming Edge Wi-Fi ($179.99). The company wasn’t able to get us a sample in time.

Performance on our three boards ended up where expected for the most part. The ASRock board held to Intel standards more than the other board. So in certain longer-running tests, it ends up slower. The Asus board performed the best out of the group using its ‘optimizations’ that stray the furthest from intel specifications. Gaming performance was similar among our participants, however. Surprisingly (despite sticking to the more conservative spec), our ASRock sample managed to use the most power of any Z490 based motherboard, peaking at 352W during our testing.

Specifications - ASRock Z490M Pro4

Starting quickly with the accessories, ASRock’s Z490M Pro4 includes SATA cables, M.2 screws, manuals/driver disk and more, a basic assortment of what you need to get started. Below is a complete list of what comes in the box with the motherboard.

• Quick Installation Guide
• Support CD
• I/O shields
• (2) SATA cables
• (3) Screws for M.2 socket
• Standoff for M.2 socket

Looking at the ASRock Z490M Pro4 motherboard, we’re greeted by a jet-black PCB with silver/aluminum heatsinks scattered around the board. Additionally, there’s a white-lined pattern that runs through the PCIe and DRAM area as well as a second white accent line streaking through the socket area. Overall, the board looks good for the price. As far as RGB lighting is concerned, two RGB LEDs are found on the bottom side of the board by the SATA ports. If these aren’t enough, there are four RGB headers (two ARGB, two RGB) as well.

Focusing on the top half of the board, we’re able to get a closer look at the large aluminum heatsinks that cover the VRM banks. The left heatsink reaches out over the rear IO, cleaning up the appearance. On top, a portion is finished in a brushed-aluminum style with the PRO Series naming in a darker grey. Between the VRM heatsinks are 8-pin (required) and 4-pin (optional) EPS connectors for sending power to the CPU.

To the right of the socket are four DRAM slots. As expected at this price point, none are reinforced. Memory support is listed at speeds of up to DDR4 4400+(OC), with capacity listed as 128GB - standard fare. The memory slots lock on both sides, and with a video card installed, the bottom latches push into the GPU a bit. This makes it difficult to push the PCIe latch down to remove the GPU. This isn’t a big deal, but can easily be mitigated by using single-sided locking slots.

Flanking the DRAM slots at the top of the board are two (of six) 4-pin fan headers capable of controlling both PWM and DC fans (auto-detect on most ports). The CPU/Water Pump header, to the right of the DRAM slots, supports up to 2A/24W, while the remainder support 1A/12W. This should be plenty for most system configurations.

On the right edge of the board, we spy the first RGB headers: a grey 3-pin (ARGB) and white 4-pin (RGB). Sliding down that edge, you’ll come across the 24-pin ATX connector for board power, two front-panel USB 3.2 Gen1 headers, and two SATA ports oriented vertically. The Z490M Pro4 supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 modes on the SATA ports.

Looking at the power delivery in detail, we see an 8+2 configuration for the Vcore and SOC. Control over the VRMs is handled by a UP9521R (X+Y=7, 4+2 here, doubled) feeding 50 PDEC3908 (high side) and PDEC3906 (low side) MOSFETs using UP1961S phase doublers to reach ‘8’ phases. This isn’t the most robust setup, but it handled our flagship Intel Core i9-10900K at stock speeds without issue. As far as overclocking, the board was hindered by current limits and wouldn’t overclock manually.

Moving down to the bottom half of the board, we’ll start with the audio section in the left-hand corner. Here we see the Realtek ALC1200 codec, along with a couple of capacitors dedicated to audio. You’re not going to find any EMI covers or more costly audio caps on this board. That said, the solution should still be sufficient for most users.

In the middle of the board are four PCIe slots and three M.2 sockets (two meant for SSDs). The lowest M.2 is offset to the right, located just below the chipset. Both M.2 Key M slots support PCIe and SATA based M.2 modules up to 110mm long. The small M.2 socket in the middle is Key E and supports Wi-Fi/BT cards. There is some lane sharing going on between SATA and M.2. In this case, if M2_1 (top socket) is occupied, SATA port 3 will be disabled. ASRock doesn’t list any kind of PCIe 4.0 support, so we’ll assume it goes without regardless of the CPU used.

There are a total of four PCIe slots, with two full-length slots for video cards and two x1 size slots for additional accessories. The problem here is the x1 slots will be hidden by any 2.5 slot or great video card. So be aware of this if you plan to use one of the small slots. The top slot is fortified with Gigabyte’s PCIe Steel Slot for additional support for heavy graphics cards. The Z490M Pro4 supports AMD Crossfire X as the slots break down to x16 or x16/x4, with the bottom slot’s lanes sourced from the chipset.

To the right of the PCIe slots is the chipset, which is cooled by a small pushpin-attached heatsink. Outside of that, we see the second set of SATA ports, oriented horizontally.

Across the bottom edge of the board are several headers for various functionality. This includes fan and USB headers, clear CMOS and more. Worth noting is to the right of the chassis fan 3 header is a 4 light debug LED. If there is a problem in POST, one of the four LEDs (VGA, Boot, DRAM, CPU) will stay lit up, giving you an idea of where the problem was on boot. We’ve listed all of the headers from left to right below.

• Front panel audio
• Chassis fan
• 4-pin RGB LED
• 3-pin ARGB LED
• Thunderbolt header
• Chassis fan
• TPM header
• (2) USB 2.0 headers

Looking at the rear IO, we clearly see the difference between these budget-level boards and others up the product stack. On the USB front, we see a total of six out back. This includes two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (Type-A and Type-C), and four USB 3.2 Gen1 ports. It’s great to see a USB Type-C port out back and 3.2 Gen 2 speeds, but some users will need more.

Video outputs consist of D-Sub, HDMI and DisplayPort. so you’ll have plenty of options when using an integrated GPU. The audio stack contains three analog ports --you won’t find SPDIF here. Other items include the Intel Ethernet port, a legacy PS/2 port as well as a bracket for adding Wi-Fi.

Software

On the software side, ASRock includes programs for a variety of applications, including RGB lighting control, overclocking and an App Shop designed to download and update your applications and drivers. ASRock doesn’t have a single program to house all of these applications, so you will have to download them separately. Below we’ve captured several screenshots of the App Shop, Polychrome Sync, A-Tune, and the Nahimic 3 audio program.

Firmware

To give you a sense of the Firmware, we’ve gathered screenshots showing a majority of the BIOS screens.

ASRock’s BIOS is one of the more user-friendly and good-looking UEFIs out of the major brands. Using a black background with white writing and sky-blue highlights, it’s easy to read. The Taichi’s gear/clockwork theme also finds its way in here.

At first boot, you’re greeted by Easy Mode, a more information-based page than tweaking, though you can adjust some things (XMP profiles, canned fan settings, etc). Going into the Advanced Mode, we see several headings across the top. The BIOS is deep and includes a lot of functionality, with the most frequently used items easily accessible and not buried within sub-menus.

Specifications - Asus Prime Z490M-Plus

Starting with the included accessories, our Asus Prime Z490M-Plus board includes what’s needed to get the system up and running, but that’s about it. Manuals, driver DVD, SATA cables and M.2 screws complete the accessory stack. No bullet points needed here.

As far as the appearance goes, the Prime Z490M-Plus, like the ASRock above, sports a jet-black PCB along with white lines/patterns stenciled on the board. The heatsinks are all silver/aluminum with a brushed finish. Note this board doesn’t  include integrated RGB lighting. If you would like to add some, there is one 4-pin RGB header (typically there are four onboard). Overall, the board looks busy with everything going on, but it will still fit in with most build themes.

Looking more closely at the top half of the board, on the left side we see a small heatsink with a lot of surface area covering the VRMs. Unlike the ASRock board, Asus didn’t extend this heatsink over the IO area, so it doesn’t look as ‘clean’ as the ASRock. Delivering power to CPU is a required 8-pin EPS connector and optional 4-pin.

Also located by the VRM heatsink and EPS connectors is the first (of five) fan headers (CHA_Fan2). All fan headers on this board support both PWM and AC control. Each fan header is capable of up to 1A/12W of power. I would like to have seen at least one header with more output, so there is less worry about overloading any one of these. Between the top VRM heatsinks and DRAM slots are two more fan headers (CPU_Fan, AIO_Pump).

The DRAM slots alternate black and grey color for ease of identifying the right pair for dual channel (use the grey slots first). The slots lock on one side only, allowing for easier removal of RAM with a video card installed. Like all of the other boards, the DRAM slots do not include reinforcement. Support is listed up to DDR4 4400(OC) with capacities up to 128GB. As always, your mileage may vary in reaching these speeds. We had no issues running our DDR4 4000 2x8GB kit, though.

On the right edge of the board, there isn’t too much going on. We see the 24-pin ATX lead for powering the board, and two front-panel USB 3.2 Gen1 headers.

On the VRM front, our budget Prime Z490M-Plus uses a ‘teamed’ vcore implementation. Power is sent to the VRMs through an ASP1900B (X+Y=8) controller that sends power to eight 50A Vishay SIC639 DrMOS (high and low side combined) MOSFETs. This implementation took our i9-10900K to 5.2 GHz without issue. The VRM’s ran warm, but well within their operating parameters.

The bottom half of the board contains the audio, PCIe slots and M.2 storage area. Starting at the left side, we see an exposed Realtek ALC887 codec, along with a few small Nicicon audio caps. Like the other boards, we won’t find EMI shielding here. This codec isn’t high up the charts for premium audio, but should be fine for most users.

The PCIe area in the middle consists of two full-length slots and two x1 slots wedged between them. The primary GPU slot (top) runs at x16 speeds (CPU sourced) and is reinforced with Asus Safe Slot Core+ to prevent shearing and EMI interference. The bottom slot is wired to the chipset and runs at x4 speeds. This setup supports AMD 2-Way CrossfireX. Like the ASRock board, Asus chose to put the x1 slots between the full-length slots, which would cover at least one with a 2-slot GPU. Be aware of this issue if you plan on using the x1 slots.

On the M.2 front, our Asus board places an M.2 socket above the primary PCIe slot and above the other full-length slot. The M2_1 (top socket) supports PCIe 3.0 x4 based M.2 modules up to 110mm in length. The bottom socket (M2_2) supports both SATA and PCIe 3.0 x4 modules. When using the M2_2 socket in SATA mode, the SATA 1 port is disabled.

Just to the right is a small pushpin-attached chipset heatsink and four SATA ports. The fifth port is oriented vertically on the bottom edge. RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 modes are supported in the SATA ports.

The bottom edge of the board contains a slew of headers, from USB ports to RGB, with fan headers between. Below is the full list, from left to right.

• Front panel audio
•  COM port
•  SPDIF out header
•  Chassis fan header
•  (2) USB 2.0 ports
•  Chassis fan header
•  SATA port
•  Front panel header

Moving on to the rear IO, again it isn’t the most feature-rich, offering a total of six USB ports. On this board you’ll find two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (Type-A and Type-C), two USB 3.2 Gen1 ports, and two USB 2.0 ports. The count is the same, but port types/speeds are overall slower here compared to the ASRock board. On the video side, we see DVI-D, HDMI, and DisplayPorts. Outside of that is a three-plug analog audio stack, the Intel Ethernet port, and a PS/2 port.

Software

Asus has several applications designed for a variety of functions, ranging from RGB lighting control, audio, system monitoring, overclocking and more. Instead of plodding through each application as if it changes for each review, moving forward, we’ll capture several screenshots of a few major utilities. In this case, we’ll look at Ai Suite 3, Armory Crate, and the Realtek Audio application, to show all the screens.

Firmware

Like the software section above, we’ve shortened the Firmware section as well. Instead of describing each section, we’ve gathered screenshots covering the vast majority of the bios screens. If there is anything of interest, we’ll make note of it.

I’ve been a longtime fan of the Asus UEFIs as they are easy to get around, have a lot of options, and the most frequently accessed items are not buried deep within the menus. The BIOS is high-contrast and easy to read, too. The EZ Mode provides enough information and options to be useful, while the Advanced part of the BIOS has everything you need, and more, to tweak your motherboard.

MORE: Best Motherboards

MORE: How To Choose A Motherboard

MORE: All Motherboard Content 

Specifications - Gigabyte Z490M Gaming X

Starting with the accessory stack, Gigabyte includes the basics and nothing more. Included are two SATA cables, a driver disc, and user’s manual. All M.2 screws are already on the posts on the motherboard.

That out of the way, our Gigabyte Z490M Gaming X is arguably the best-looking board out of those we have in hand (although if we had the MSI MPG Z490M, the nod would likely go there). The Gigabyte board’s base color is a glossy dark brown, but you’ll hardly notice because there is a lot going on as well as some grey patterns stenciled on the board.

The heatsinks are all black, sporting a brushed-aluminum finish, along with the same patterns on them as found on the board. The rear IO even has a shroud covering its unmentionables, which gives the board a clean look. RGB LED elements come from the onboard headers (four total) as there are none integrated on the board itself. Overall, the Z490M Gaming X should fit in well with most build themes.

On the top half of the board, we get to see the large VRM heatsinks and the brushed finish. Located between the two heatsinks on the top edge of the board are two EPS connectors for the CPU. An 8-pin (required) and a 4-pin (optional). Just below these plugs is the first (of four) fan headers. All headers support both PWM- and DC- controlled fans. The manual does not mention the output for these headers, so we’ll assume they are all 1A/12W.

To the right of the socket area between the DRAM slots and top VRM heatsink is another fan header (CPU_FAN) in grey. The four DRAM slots have a double-sided locking mechanism with two slots using reinforcement (what Gigabyte calls Ultra Durable Armor). This is the only board in our roundup using armor on the memory slots. The four slots support up to 128GB of RAM, with speeds listed up to DDR4 5000(OC). This is the highest value of the boards tested. But as usual, your mileage may vary in reaching those speeds. I’d like to see Gigabyte use the single-sided locking slots, as with this design too they bump into the graphics card making sticks difficult to remove.

To the right of the DRAM slots in the top-right corner are two RGB headers (3-pin and 4-pin). Below this is the 24-pin ATX connector for powering the motherboard. Next, we see another system fan header, and just below it are four vertically oriented SATA ports. Last but not least is the front-panel USB 3.2 Gen1 header.

Gigabyte’s page for this board mentions an 11+1 phase setup. You get an Intersil ISL69629 controller (X+Y+Z=12), which feeds OnSemiconductor 4C10N (47A) on the high side and 4C06N (67A) on the low side. While this isn’t a more expensive DrMOS setup where the high and low sides are combined, it still handled our Intel Core i9-10900K at stock and our 5.2 GHz overclock. That said, it ran hot while overclocked, though well within its operating range.

Moving on to the bottom half of the board, we’ll start on the left side with the audio bits. Here again, we can plainly see the Realtek ALC1200 codec, as no EMI cover is used. Also visible are four Nichicon audio capacitors and an audio separation line to minimize interference. The ALC1200 codec should be fine for most users, particularly those that don’t use SPDIF (none of the boards have a plug for it).

For PCIe slots, our Z490M Gaming X comes with two full-length slots. The primary (top) slot is reinforced to help prevent shearing with heavy video cards as well as to minimize EMI. The bottom slot is fed from the chipset and runs at a maximum of x4. When using multiple GPUs for AMD CrossfireX, it breaks down to x16/x4. One x1 size slot sits just below the top slot, but chances are it will be covered with any dual-slot video card. I’d like to have seen the M.2 socket and this slot switched, so the x1 slot could be used with a powerful discrete GPU.

There are two M.2 sockets on this board, the first sitting above the primary GPU slot. But this slot is reserved for future use. This means it should work with Rocket Lake CPUs and the PCIe 4.0 interface. The bottom slot supports both PCIe- and SATA-based modules up to 110mm, running at PCIe 3.0 x4.

To the right of this is a pushpin-attached southbridge heatsink and the last two SATA ports. All SATA ports support RAID0, 1, 5, and 10. Additionally, there is a 3-pin Thunderbolt header if you’re looking to use that with an add-in card.

The bottom edge of the board presents several different headers, including audio, fans, USB and more. Below is a list of all the headers from left to right.

Swinging around the rear IO area, again we see a fairly sparse landscape, a common theme on these budget boards. Here we find the six USB port: two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C and Type-A) and four USB 3.2 Gen1 ports. Video outputs consist of DisplayPort and HDMI, which is sufficient when using the integrated graphics. The audio stack consists of six analog ports; missing is the SPDIF output as it is on all boards in this roundup. Last but not least the Intel Ethernet port and a legacy PS/2 port for old mice and keyboards.

Software

Gigabyte includes a few applications designed for a variety of functions, including RGB lighting control, audio, system monitoring, and overclocking. Below, we’ve captured several screenshots of the App Center, @BIOS, SIV, RGB Fusion and Easy Tune.

Firmware

To give you a sense of the Firmware, we’ve gathered screenshots showing a majority of the BIOS screens.

The BIOS on Gigabyte’s Z490 boards has worked well for me since release. The format of headings across the top, with most details on a single page or one level down, makes for easy navigation. The biggest difference here is the white-and-gold color theme, compared to the darker designs found with most of the company’s other motherboards.

MORE: Best Motherboards

MORE: How To Choose A Motherboard

MORE: All Motherboard Content 

Test System

Our test system uses Windows 10 64-bit OS (1909) with all threat mitigations applied. The motherboard BIOS used is the latest non-beta available to the public, unless otherwise noted. The hardware used is as follows:

Benchmark Settings

Benchmark Results

All standard benchmarks and power tests are performed using the CPU’s stock frequencies (including stock Thermal Velocity Boost), with all power-saving features enabled. Optimized defaults are set in the BIOS and the memory is set using the XMP profiles. For this baseline testing, Windows is set to High Performance, except for during power testing, where we switch to Balanced so the PC idles properly.

Note that the red bar represents the best result between the three boards we’re testing here, not the fastest/slowest result for a given chart.

Synthetic Benchmarks

Synthetics are a great tool to figure out if a board is running out of spec, as identical settings should produce extremely similar performance results. Advanced memory timings are the one place where motherboard makers can still optimize for either stability or performance though, and those settings can impact some testing.

Results in our synthetic benchmarks matched other boards in both single- and multi-threaded applications. These boards traded punches in our synthetic benchmarks. About the only outliers in performance are the Asus and Gigabyte, both of which scored lower than any other board so far in PCMark 10’s Video Editing and Video conferencing.

Timed Applications

During the timed applications, most results were in line with the other boards tested. We saw anomalies with the ASRock and Asus boards in Handbrake and Corona, where these took longer than most other boards due to the sustained clock speeds being lower over time.

3D Games and 3DMark

We’ve updated our game tests to more The Division 2 and Forza Horizon 4. The games are run at 1920x1080 resolution using the Ultra preset. As the resolution goes up, the CPU tends to have less of an impact on most games. The goal with these settings is to determine if there are differences in performance at the most commonly used resolution, with settings most people use or at least strive for.

On the gaming front, all tested boards performed as expected. There’s nothing of concern here, and no disadvantage over much-pricier alternatives.

Power Consumption / VRM Temperatures

For power testing with our current-hungry Core i9 CPU, we used AIDA64’s System Stability Test with Stress CPU, FPU and Cache enabled using peak power consumption value within the first minute. The wattage reading is taken from the wall via a Kill-A-Watt meter to capture the entire ecosystem (minus the monitor). The only variable that changes in these reviews is the motherboard; all other parts are the same.

Power use in our roundup wasn’t much different than the other full-size motherboards we’ve tested in the past. On average, the Asus Prime used the least amount of power, idling at 47W with load voltage peaking at 246W. These values are the lowest we’ve seen so far. The other two boards were in the same ballpark though, with the ASRock running 49W/272W and the Gigabyte running 53W/278W (idle/load).

On the overclocking front, both the Gigabyte Gaming X and Asus Prime handled things without issue. The Gigabyte peaked well over 100 degrees Celsius, though it was still within operating parameters. The Asus board peaked just above 70 degrees Celsius. Clearly, temperature-wise, the Asus implementation runs the coolest all-around, even beating boards with active cooling (fans) on the VRM.

VRM temperatures, on the other hand, were all over the place. Of the three boards, the Asus Prime ran the coolest, barely reaching 50 degrees Celsius. Compare that to the Gigabyte Gaming X, which almost reached 100 degrees Celsius and the ASRock, that hit around 84 degrees Celsius. We saw a wide swath of temperatures. That said, at stock speeds, we didn’t have any issues. While a couple of these boards ran hot, they were within operating parameters.

Overclocking

Cutting to the chase, only the Asus and Gigabyte boards were able to overclock here. The ASRock ran into current limits even at 5 GHz, so we didn’t bother testing. That said, the other boards ran our Core i9-10900K CPU at 5.2 GHz and about 1.35V while keeping the CPU around 90 degrees Celsius. With both boards, some LLC was needed to keep the voltage stable, but that is par for the course in overclocking (vdroop is actually a part of the intel specification).

All motherboards tested were able to set our 2x8GB DDR4 4000 kit without issue. The Gigabyte and Asus list the fastest supported speeds, though remember your mileage will vary reaching them, achievable speeds are memory kit and CPU dependent. That said, if you’re in the market for a budget motherboard such as these, chances are you aren’t looking for the top-of-the line memory speeds. Any of these boards will work fine on the memory front, at least up to DDR4 4000 with the kit we use.

Final Thoughts

All three of these boards performed well at stock, with the results mostly in line with each other. Features wise, all include what you need, though some may feel the six USB ports on the rear IO is a bit anemic. All of these boards contain at least four SATA ports and one M.2 slot, though none include Wi-Fi. At these price points, ASRock Z490M Pro 4 ($134.99), Asus Prime Z490M-Plus ($149.99), and a Gigabyte Z490M Gaming X ($159.99), that’s to be expected.

The Gigabyte Z490M Gaming X’s biggest selling point is its appearance, along with the full set of six SATA ports. Where it falls short compared to the others is the single M.2 socket. The ASRock Pro4, on the other hand, brings two M.2 sockets and four SATA ports. If you still use a lot of SATA based drives, four may not be enough (only three when using M2_1). The Asus splits the difference here, sporting five SATA ports and two M.2 sockets (four total when M2_2 is used in SATA mode).

On the audio front, none of these are going to please an audiophile. However for simple listening, the onboard solutions will be fine. To that end, Gigabyte and Asus both use a more premium Realtek solution than the ASRock board. On the networking front, all boards use Intel I219-V Gigabit adapter and do not come with Wi-Fi. Only the ASRock includes a Key-E M.2 socket for Intel CNVi Wi-Fi capability.

In the end, all of these boards prove to be a capable base on which to build your Z490 based system. If overclocking is part of the plan, stick with the Asus or Gigabyte. If you need an easy Wi-Fi implementation and don’t plan on overclocking, the ASRock board is the weapon of choice and the cheapest of all we’ve tested. That or you can pay a premium ($189.99 or $20 more than the Gigabyte) for the MSI MPG Z490M Gaming Edge Wi-Fi that includes Wi-Fi, solid VRM, and four SATA ports. While all have their limitations, it’s not a hard choice to pick the best of the three boards we reviewed here. That goes to the Asus Prime Z490M-Plus, as it offers a good value, a mix of appreciated features, and it’s priced right, while running cooler than some boards that cost much more.

MORE: Best Motherboards

MORE: How To Choose A Motherboard

MORE: All Motherboard Content 

The Nintendo PlayStation Super NES CD-ROM (SNES-CD), also known as Super Famicom CD-ROM Adapter in Japan, is up for grabs at Heritage Auctions. The system is said to be the last of its kind, which is why the current bid is at $350,000.

For the uninitiated, the Super NES CD-ROM system was a prototype gaming console that came from a short-lived collaboration between Nintendo and Sony that reportedly started in the late '80s. Sadly, the device never left the prototype phase. Nintendo and Sony allegedly produced 200 units, which Heritage Auctions claimed have all been destroyed except for the one on auction. There's a sticker with a handwritten "2" under the system, which suggests that this unit may have been the second device that came out of the production line.

The systems look like a Frankenstein creation, featuring a slot for Super Famicom and Super Nintendo cartridges and a separate CD-ROM drive for PlayStation games that would be offered on the Super Disc format. The auctioneers even claim they've played Mortal Kombat via a Super Famicom catridge on the system.

It's incredible that the Super NES CD-ROM prototype is still working after so many years. The auction page claims the console was discovered in 2009 and that the CD-ROM was non-functional at the time. However YouTuber Benjamin Heckendorn reportedly repaired it. That means you can listen to your favorite CD (you still have one, right?) while playing a classic game. A miniature screen is on top of the console to let you know which track is playing.

The console has the typical power, reset and eject buttons, in addition to the multimedia buttons for music playback. There's even a headphone jack and volume dial on the the device. Outputs on the Super NES CD-ROM system are three RCA connectors, one S-Video connector, Nintendo's own Multi-Out port and a mysterious "NEXT" port that no one knows the purpose of. 

The Super NES CD-ROM system comes with a single Super Famicom controller that has Sony PlayStation branding. The console relies on a Super Famicom boot/debugging cartridge to enable the CD-ROM functionality and access the Super Disc operating system. Other accessories include the red, yellow and white RCA cables and a Sony-branded 7.5V power adapter.

Features and Specifications

Now that HDR monitors are becoming more common, we’re seeing a number of different standards. At the premium end are panels that can hit 1,000 nits brightness and have full-array zone-dimming backlights (like the Asus ROG Swift PG27U and Acer Predator X27). But at nearly $2,000 (£1,600), those monitors are out of reach for many. If you can accept an edge-array backlight and 400 nits max brightness, AOC has a monitor for you that’s just $545 (£398.58), the Agon AG322QC4, a 32-inch curved VA panel with QHD resolution (2560x1440), FreeSync 2, a 144Hz refresh rate and almost 85 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 wide color gamut.

After reviewing both the Predator X27 and ROG Swift PG27U, we know that monitors with full-array,1,000-nit backlights are the reference standard in HDR displays. It’s also clear that having the best means laying out a princely sum. For the rest of us, good HDR can be found in monitors with edge backlights that produce lower peak white levels. VESA (The Video Electronics Standards Association) recognizes this and has published standards that consider more value-oriented products. The AG322QC4 is one such panel and is certified to produce at least 400 nits in HDR mode, hence the VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification.

To increase contrast, the monitor has a well-engineered dynamic contrast feature that operates whenever HDR10 content is detected. It topped 10,000:1 contrast in our HDR tests. Overall, this monitor’s a good deal for HDR viewers.

Specifications

Unpacking & Accessories

You’ll need a Phillips-head screwdriver to attach the panel to the upright. After, you attach the base with a captive bolt.

The accessory bundle includes cables for DisplayPort and HDMI (you’ll need to use the latter for HDR). You also get USB 3.0 and analog audio cables. A large brick serves as the external power supply. The on-screen display (OSD) controller is much like ones we’ve seen from AOC in the past and plugs into its own port underneath. AOC includes a printed quick-start guide and has more detailed documentation available online.

Product 360

Style-wise, the AG322QC4 follows in the footsteps of other Agon monitors. The bezel is thin around the top and sides and sits flush behind the anti-glare layer. A wider-trim strip goes across the bottom and has thin LED lights that can change color according to settings in the OSD. The effect extends around back to four more strips surrounded by a silver accent piece. The base and upright are solid aluminum finished in a satin texture. Quality is evident both in appearance and feel, and materials seem more premium than the price would suggest. A handle caps the upright, and you also get a headphone hook that folds out from the upper right.

The stand offers full ergonomic adjustments, including 30-degree swivel in each direction, 29-degree back tilt and 5-degree forward tilt, along with 4.3 inches of height range. Movements are firm and without play. Two 5W speakers provide decent volume in the upper-mid frequency range. Two 3.5mm inputs and two 3.5mm outputs support external audio.

Video connections consist of two DisplayPorts, two HDMI 2.0 inputs and a VGA connector. You can enjoy FreeSync 2 and a 144Hz refresh rate over DisplayPort or HDMI, but, as noted above, HDR only works with the latter. USB ports are version 3.0 and include one upstream and two downstream jacks.

OSD Features

Menu control comes in two forms, a small joystick mounted underneath the center of the panel and a plug-in puck controller that adds three buttons for the various game modes. We tried both and found the joystick to be more efficient and intuitive. It doubles as the power toggle when you press it for three seconds.

The OSD has a new graphical style we haven’t seen from AOC before. It’s divided into six sub-menus. Game Setting provides things like shadow control, overdrive, a frame rate counter and an aiming point. Image settings are found in the Luminance menu, which has three gamma presets, as well as Color Setup, which has color temp options. You get multiple white points, plus a user mode, which provides a precise calibration. Also here is sRGB mode, but we found that it did not reduce the color gamut to that standard. Regardless of settings, you’ll see DCI-P3 for all content.

When the monitor detects HDR signals, it locks all picture controls except for the four HDR modes: HDR, Movie, Game and Picture. The most accurate one is HDR. The others change the luminance curve and, while they may be preferred by some users, are less accurate. For VGA port users, the Image Setup menu has controls for position, clock and phase.

Setup and Calibration

The first thing we noticed in the OSD is the Low Blue Light option is on by default. This makes the white point more red than it should be. We turned Low Blue Light off before running any tests or calibrating.

We then tried to force the AG322QC4 into an sRGB-compatible color mode without success. DCI-P3 is the one and only gamut choice. This won’t be a problem for most, as the extra saturation gives games an added punch. But those needing an accurate sRGB or Rec.709 monitor are out of luck.

Default gamma is a bit off the mark as well, but that’s easily fixed by selecting Gamma 2 instead of Gamma 1. A few tweaks of the RGB sliders, which start center-range, provide excellent grayscale tracking and good color accuracy in the DCI space. Calibration isn’t possible for HDR signals, but it turns out none is needed (those test results are on page four).

Here are our suggested settings for SDR content:

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: All Monitor Content

Brightness and Contrast

To read about our monitor tests in-depth, check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test Monitors and TVs. We cover Brightness and Contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

HDR monitors play to multiple standards, so we pulled together a varied group to compare the AG322QC4. At the premium end is the Asus ROG Swift PG27U. Then we have the Philips 436M6VBPAB Momentum (436M6), BenQ EX3501R, ViewSonic VP3881 and LG 34WK650.

SDR mode’s brightness maxed out just shy of 360 nits. This is plenty of output for gaming or anything else. Despite its billing as a gaming display, the AG322QC4 is a great general-use product. Its size and form factor make it versatile and flexible.

At maximum brightness settings, the VA panel delivered black levels commensurate with the other VA screens here. In SDR mode, a monitor with an IPS panel can’t compete in that department.

Contrast is a respectable 2,277:1. While some VA monitors can do better, there is potential for improvement after calibration.

After Calibration to 200 nits

With calibration to 200 nits, the AG322QC4 maintained its second place position in the black level test, but contrast increased to 2,552.2:1. Not many monitors gain contrast after calibration, but having RGB sliders that start center-range likely gave the AG322QC4 an advantage. This makes it easier to achieve balance because you can both increase and decrease the RGB levels; most monitors only allow you to reduce them.

ANSI contrast stayed strong after calibration at 2,295:1, which is only a bit lower than the sequential number and means AOC is using a quality panel. That’s impressive performance at this price point. Our sample had excellent field uniformity, which contributed to this result. Even without HDR, the AG322QC4 delivered a punchy image with great depth, detail and color saturation.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: All Monitor Content

Grayscale, Gamma and Color

AOC offers multiple picture modes, called Eco modes, but we only used the Standard option. The others take liberties with color reproduction that we didn’t find attractive. You can play games or view all content in Standard with the Gaming Mode option turned off. You’ll also want to turn off the Low Blue Light option.

Grayscale & Gamma Tracking

We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

Default grayscale tracking is a bit cool, and the errors can be seen throughout the entire  brightness range. An out-of-box result of nearly 7dE is higher than average. The tint is slightly purple and was visible in bright whites and neutral colored objects. It also made the image look a little flat.

Gamma ran light, except for at the 50 percent brightness level, where it delivered the correct luminance. That gamma flaw made color look slightly oversaturated, which is exacerbated by the wide DCI gamut. We found nearly identical results with the sRGB preset (second graph).

Luckily, calibration solved these issues (third graph). We selected the Gamma 2 preset, and grayscale errors became completely invisible with an excellent .9dE average. The preset also tightened up gamme tracking significantly to where it was only a tiny bit light in the mid and upper brightness levels.

Comparisons

The AG322QC4 performed the worst in the group in our out-of-box grayscale test with a 6.9dE. The purple tint was visible in most neutrally colored content; although, games and videos with bright primary colors were less-affected. If you either calibrate your monitor, or use our recommended settings, you can fix this problem easily—we got result down to 0.9dE. Any monitor that delivers grayscale accuracy under 1dE is a winner in our tests.

Gamma tracking was also off the mark by default, but by simply changing the Gamma Preset from 1 to 2, it became very good. The 4.54 percent result in the deviation test comes from an average gamma value of 2.10. It was a tad light in the upper brightness levels but reasonably close to the mark with linear tracking. If you want a slightly darker image, Gamma 3 provides that and with excellent tracking above the 2.2 line.

Color Gamut Accuracy

For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

Our CIE charts show the AG322QC4 is a DCI-only monitor. Users looking for extra color will appreciate this, and it’s great for HDR content. But SDR video and games are created in the sRGB color space and should be rendered that way.

Good news is saturation tracking after calibration was excellent, and errors within the DCI standard were quite low.

Comparisons

In the context of the DCI-P3 color gamut (first chart), the AG322QC4 delivered excellent accuracy. But it can’t make the same claim for sRGB. There, the lowest error we could achieve was 4.61dE average. What we have here is a monitor with very saturated color that only reaches its full accuracy potential with HDR material. Standard content will look good to most, but some hues may seem unnatural to those used to calibrated screens.

On the other hand,  it delivered over 84 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut, more than many of the HDR monitors we’ve tested. It came up only slightly short in red and green, but almost no one will notice. Overall, we’re happy with the AG322QC4’s color performance, but we wish it had an sRGB gamut option.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: All Monitor Content

HDR Performance

The AG322QC4 supports HDR10 content in games and video, as well as Windows 10. We had no issues using our HD Fury Integral signal tester and Philips BDP-7501 Ultra HD Blu-ray player connected to the HDMI input (remember, you cannot use this monitor’s DisplayPorts for HDR). HDMI is version 2.0 and therefore also supports 144Hz, FreeSync 2 and extended color.

HDR Brightness & Contrast

At max brightness, our AG322QC4 sample couldn’t quite deliver 400 nits in any of the four HDR modes. We measured each of them and got the same result. The difference between the different modes is in the luminance curve—minimum and peak white stay the same.

When a 0 percent signal is present, the backlight almost appeared to be off, but we recorded a .0354 nit value, which calculates to an impressive 10,795.2:1 contrast ratio. Only the two 1,000-nit screens boast higher dynamic range, and that’s due solely to their bright backlights. At this price point, HDR performance won’t get much better these days.

Grayscale, EOTF & Color

We’re very impressed by the AG322QC4’s HDR grayscale and luminance accuracy. Remember that readings above 65 percent are beyond the clip point and therefore represent invisible errors. Only a slight blue tint is present at 60 and 65 percent. Grayscale is perfect below that. And check out that EOTF curve; it’s almost perfectly in sync with the standard. Accuracy like this goes a long way to enhance HDR image quality.

Color tracking in HDR was also excellent with most colors near their targets in the DCI-P3 gamut. Primaries were slightly undersaturated, but the points are appropriate given the monitor’s 84 percent coverage. This also makes a significant impact on image quality. At this price point, it’s hard to imagine better HDR performance.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: All Monitor Content

Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response and Lag

Viewing Angles

The AG322QC4’s viewing angles are typical of other VA panels we’ve reviewed. Its green color shift and 50 percent light falloff is better than any TN panel can deliver but falls short of the average IPS monitor. That said, detail held up well with every step in our pattern remaining visible in the horizontal plane. Gamma became very light in the top-down view with the same color shift and light reduction. But this is average performance for a VA monitor.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

Our AG322QC4 sample displayed excellent field uniformity with only 12.21 percent average deviation from the screen’s center zone. With all the lights turned off in the lab, we could see slight hotspots in the lower right but only barely. Under normal circumstances, there is no visible bleed or glow.

Pixel Response & Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

We were surprised to see the AG322QC4 post a faster lag score than the more-expensive ROG Swift PG27U. While the 6 ms difference is a very small margin, it speaks to AOC’s component choices and design. Though it is a value-oriented display, its performance is on-par with premium gaming monitors. An 8 ms draw time means motion blur is non-existent, and even without FreeSync, you are unlikely to see any tears or artifacts at high frame rates. And QHD resolution means that you won’t need an expensive graphics board to enjoy these high speeds.

Gaming & Hands-on

Gaming proved to be an excellent experience with the AG322QC4. Most titles looked great, despite color extending past their SDR color gamuts. We enjoyed the extra saturation and bold hues. Contrast and image depth were great, thanks to that superb VA tech. Our calibration put gamma right in the sweet spot and made detail in shadow areas pop without needing the shadow control option.

Motion processing was flawless with frame rates hovering in the 60-70 frames per second range. We set detail to Ultra in Tomb Raider and enjoyed the fine rendering of grass, plants, surface textures and flesh. Setting overdrive to Strong eliminated any hint of motion blur, and FreeSync 2 worked seamlessly.

To test HDR quality, we hooked up our Datastorm PC with its GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card. The rig is capable of HDR output from Windows 10. Using the HDMI port gave us stunning HDR in Call of Duty: WWII. No, it wasn't quite as impressive as what we saw when playing on the Asus ROG Swift PG27U or Acer Predator X27, but at less than a third of the price, we were not disappointed. Highlights were strong and detailed, never overpowering other objects but rendering them even more life-like and three-dimensional. The wide DCI color gamut comes into its own with content like this. Flesh tones had more warmth and realism, while blue skies and green grass were more natural and vibrant.

Regardless of frame rate, the AG322QC4 kept up with the most intense action. There was no motion blur or frame tearing present, even with FreeSync 2 off. Input lag was imperceptible with instant responses to all control inputs. With the large screen size and deep contrast, this AOC has become one of our favorite gaming monitors. You’ll have to spend a lot more money to beat it.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: All Monitor Content

Conclusion

We’ve reviewed several monitors in AOC’s Agon line of gaming screens, and it seems each one is a little better than its predecessor. The AOC Agon AG322QC4 is the first such display to feature HDR, and considering its low price, this product is nearly a homerun. Gameplay was carefree, thanks to a reliable 144Hz refresh rate and FreeSync 2. Color was bright and bold with nearly 85 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut. And HDR provided over 10,000:1 contrast, while SDR offered 2,500:1.

The size and curvature are an asset. A 32-inch QHD screen has enough pixel density for good detail-rendering and provides lots of real estate for gaming, video, or workday tasks. The curve is subtle and doesn’t call attention to itself but delivers a more immersive gaming experience than a flat panel of the same size and aspect ratio.

There are two flaws worth noting here. First, there is no gamut option for sRGB. This won’t be an issue for those who wish for a little extra color, but if you need accurate sRGB color, this monitor is the wrong choice. Our second complaint concerns its out-of-box accuracy—gamma and grayscale tracking were slightly below-average in our tests. Fortunately, our calibration solved the issue.

Given this AOC’s excellent contrast, HDR performance and gaming prowess, we can heartily recommend it as a great choice for $545 (£398.58). In that segment, it’ll be hard to beat.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: All Monitor Content

Features & Specifications

Enthusiasts seeking the biggest bang for their performance buck now have an overclockable Z370 motherboard option for about the same price as the locked-down H370. But there are a few catches, beginning with overclocking limits that are imposed by a thermal-throttling voltage regulator, extending to the board’s lack of CPU PCIe bifurcation, and ending with the lack of USB 3.1 Gen 2 capability. That last feature is integrated into the newer H370 chipset, but the extra chip required to extend the feature to Z370 was, apparently, simply too expensive to include at this price level.

Specifications

Features & Layout

With a sub-$130 pricetag, ASRock’s Z370M Pro4 overclockable motherboard is in the same pricing territory as locked-down boards based around the lesser H370 chipset.

We’re not dissuaded by the board’s Micro-ATX form factor either, as it provides the same space around the CPU socket as ATX-sized boards. We still see two PCIe x16 slots, just as we’d find on a big board, and only one of those is connected to CPU lanes, just as we’d find on a budget ATX board. Note that Micro-ATX can support SLI, but low-cost Micro-ATX boards do not.

Other noteworthy economizations include the lack of any USB 3.1 Gen 2 controllers, which are typically found on Z370 boards priced over $150. We instead find the proper color codes for the newer USB standard connecting a Type-A and a Type-C port to Gen 1 pathways. The other three blue ports are also Gen 1 (aka USB 3.0), the single black port is USB 2.0, and the only remaining I/O shortcomings are in the three analog audio jacks connected to an older ALC892 codec. Fans of the newer H370 chipset will point out that USB 3.1 Gen 2 is a free feature of the newer part, while fans of older keyboards and mice will be happy to see a PS/2 port for each.

Placing the second x16-length slot at the bottom of a Micro-ATX board typically requires builders who want to use CrossFire to use a five-slot case (the Micro-ATX standard is four), but we doubt anyone will want to run that second card from the slots' mere four chipset-connected lanes. The spacing would be better for installing a two-drive M.2 adapter, but that PCH-based x4 connection kills that option as well. Those types of options require PCIe lane switches that would have pushed the board’s price well past its target market: low-budget gamers and tinkerers. Regarding gamers, the presence of a double-slot graphics card will also prevent anything from being installed in the upper PCIe x1 slot.

Z370M Pro4 buyers still get two NVMe M.2 slots, and one of those also supports legacy SATA drives. Installing one of those legacy drives will disable one of the SATA ports, and therein lies the only shared port exclusion. Cheapskates will note that pricier boards are typically loaded with either/or interfaces due to the Z370’s 30 HSIO (high-speed input/output) pathway limitation.

A front-panel audio header placed about an inch forward from the traditional bottom-rear corner location eases cable management with certain cases. In front of that are legacy COM and LPT ports, a TPM header, two USB 2.0 ports, an undocumented BIOS_PH header and an industry-standard front-panel button/LED header. Moving up from there is a combo header for a legacy beep-code speaker and Chassis Intrusion button, a CLR_CMOS jumper, the lower (non-SATA) M.2/NVMe slot, four forward-facing and two outward-facing SATA ports and two USB 3.0 front-panel headers. The USB 3.0 headers and outward-facing SATA ports are above the top PCIe slot to assure proper connector-to-card clearance.

Z370M Pro4 installation hardware includes only two SATA cables, an I/O shield and a pair of screws for M.2 drives. ASRock also includes a printed user manual, installation disc with another copy of the user manual and a case badge.

MORE: Best Motherboards

MORE: How To Choose A Motherboard

MORE: All Motherboard Content

Software & Firmware

ASRock AppShop remains the download point for most of the firm's applications, and the installation DVD installed it only with ARock’s “Restart to UEFI” boot shortcut. We cropped extras, including shortcuts to freeware and a trial for Norton Security, out of our screenshot for scale.

ASRock A-Tuning still requires users to load a Turbo profile to access its auto-tuning algorithm, which reached a mere 4.5GHz by using an exceptionally high Load-Line Calibration setting from firmware to boost voltage from 1.22 volts (V) to 1.28V under heavy loads. Auto-tuning differs from the firmware’s 4.5GHz preset by not having any offset for AVX loads, which otherwise drops our CPU to 4.3GHz when running Prime95.

Manual tuning is another option available on the A-Tuning software, and we verified changes in multiplier, base clock and core voltage worked immediately. The System Info tab also worked well for the most part, though the program misreported both our DRAM data rate and voltage.

Firmware

Z370M Pro4 firmware opens by default to its EZ Mode interface, where settings are limited to XMP enablement, boot order, fan settings, an EZ OC setting equivalent to the board’s Turbo 4.5GHz profile and a Tools menu that presents firmware uploading, firmware downloading and fan adjustment submenus.

Clicking the F6 keyboard function key switches UEFI to its Advanced Mode GUI, whereupon advanced users can choose it as their default GUI by selecting Advance Mode near the bottom of the Advanced menu.

ASRock OC Tweaker provides factory-programmed overclocking profiles from 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz at default to 1.39V CPU core. All of the factory overclocks use AVX offsets that drop the CPU frequency to 4.3GHz, regardless of the voltage used.

Normally capable of 4.8GHz at 1.30V, our CPU was only completely stable at frequencies up to 4.6GHz on the Z370M Pro4. Rather than crashing Prime95 threads, the board allowed our least-stable core to drop its load level to less than 10% when its frequency was pushed any further.

Improved performance is the point of overclocking, but the Z370M Pro4 used such slow advanced memory settings as to reduce performance whenever we increased its data rate beyond XMP specification. That’s not a big problem for our DDR4-3866, but anyone hoping to push cheaper modules extra hard might end up in a performance hole.

While the board’s overclocking profiles sets Load-Line Calibration to its Level 2 setting, we found the Level 3 setting stayed far closer to our intended 1.30V CPU core setting when we applied heavy software loads. The board also added 22 millivolts to any DRAM voltage we picked, forcing us to choose its 1.330V setting to maintain testing consistency.

ASRock’s Advanced Mode GUI adds UEFI Tech Service to its Tools menu, which allows users to send email directly to ASRock tech support from firmware. Reading the response will require the user to access their email from an actual client, however.

In addition to the Fan-Tastic Tuning menu’s sliders, uses can create custom temperature-to-RPM (revolutions per minute) fan slopes using math. The Z370M Pro4’s four fan headers include one 3-pin with voltage control and four PWM without voltage control, as providing both modes to every fan header would have increased the board’s cost.

MORE: Best Motherboards

MORE: How To Choose A Motherboard

MORE: All Motherboard Content

How We Test

As the cheapest Z370 board we've tested, the Z370M Pro4 has a natural pricing advantage against the second, third and fourth cheapest boards we've tested (we're excluding Mini-ITX size motherboards in that statement.)

Back during the Intel X299 launch, we upgraded our test bed to handle the tremendous heat produced by the Intel Core i9-7900X. The award-winning Fractal Design S24 liquid cooler system serves the same purpose for the newer, lower-heat Core i7-8700K. Cooler Master’s HAF-XB provides an optimal layout to blow the S24’s fans sufficiently over each motherboard’s voltage regulator.

Comparison Products

All four competing boards have a broader range of overclocking settings than any production hardware can realistically use, which should lead us into a highly competitive overclocking race!

Benchmark Settings

MORE: Best Motherboards

MORE: How To Choose A Motherboard

MORE: All Motherboard Content

Benchmark Results & Final Analysis

Since we’re using the same hardware on all boards, cheating is the only way to get a big performance advantage. Improper configurations are the primary cause for performance deficits. Nearly every manufacturer cheats in the same ways today, using higher-than-stock TDP (thermal design power) limits to avoid power throttling and “Enhanced” Intel Turbo Boost ratios to lock in the highest frequency spec, even though the processor is designed to boost less under heavy loads. We disabled these manufacturer-applied enhancements during our performance benchmarks and power tests, so that the only noticeable differences between brands are generally limited to memory performance.

Synthetic Benchmarks

A “perfect” benchmark set would be completely boring, and synthetics are the best way to identify how any specific component is deviating from that norm.

The stand-out performer in our synthetic test was Asus’ costlier Prime Z370-A; the places it stood out best were Sandra Cryptography and Sandra Memory Bandwidth. Bandwidth affects Cryptography scores, and the Prime Z370-A appeared to use tighter advanced memory settings to boost both.

3D Games

The Z370M Pro4 bounced back and forth between second and third place throughout our gaming tests, which makes this cheaper board look like a great deal to performance bargain hunters.

Timed Applications

Less time means more performance when you’re waiting for a task to finish, and the Z370M Pro4 swung from first to last place across several benchmarks; however, the margin of victory in these benchmarks is too narrow for almost anyone to notice.

Power, Heat & Efficiency

The Z370M Pro4’s true weakness was revealed in our power test, where we weren’t able to run it longer than 20 minutes at stock settings before the board tripped its voltage-regulator thermal throttling trigger. That means the temperatures shown aren’t final, though the power numbers should be extremely close to their peaks.

MSI’s Z370 Tomahawk spoiled our efficiency chart by holding the CPU closer to Intel’s factory TDP spec than its competitors. We could have gotten similar numbers on the Z370M Pro4 by simply reporting the power reading when it ran in limp-along mode at roughly 70% duty-cycle after thermal throttling kicked in, but that type of intentional concession seems even less fair.

Overclocking

The Z370M Pro4 reached only 4.6GHz, and we even had to add an extra fan over the voltage regulator to get that frequency since it was hitting the voltage regulator’s throttle point even while testing at stock settings. Meanwhile, the MSI Z370 Tomahawk pushed our CPU past its 4.80GHz overclocking norm to 4.84GHz. And while that doesn’t sound like much of an accomplishment, any gain here is hard-won. 

Final Analysis

Budget buyers will want to see a chart that proves that they’re getting more than their money’s worth with the cheapest board, and that’s easy to show when considering only the price and performance.

Unfortunately, those types of comparisons don’t count features or overclocking. Even the second-cheapest board, MSI’s Z370 Tomahawk, adds a USB 3.1 Gen 2 controller. And all the boards above that allow CPU PCIe bifurcation, boosting the second slot to eight lanes by knocking the first slot down to eight lanes. That advancement in turn allowed the Asus Prime Z370-A and AsRock Z370 Extreme4 to get SLI licenses, and users could alternatively put CPU-connected storage into those slots, even adding a pair of NVMe drives via an x8 slot adapter. But those expensive configuration options miss the point of the Z370M Pro4, which is to be the least-expensive Z370 option.

The biggest problem for the Z370M Pro4 is that it wouldn’t allow us to run extended Prime95 power tests on our Core i7-8700K, even at stock settings. Of course, it should support great overclocking on a lesser processor, and the most appropriate model for that would probably be the Core i3-8350K. Yet, that processor wastes the chipset’s ability to support memory beyond DDR4-2666. Then again, base clock overclocking could push DDR4-3600 out of the 8350K’s DDR4-2400 limit.

That kind of give and take limits our recommendation of the Z370M Pro4 to owners of the Core i3-8350K, since power limits seem too restrictive for higher, unlocked CPU models. Anyone not overclocking could instead take advantage of the H370 chipset's integrated USB 3.1 Gen 2 capability, and anyone wanting to overclock a better processor should be looking for a better board.

MORE: Best Motherboards

MORE: How To Choose A Motherboard

MORE: All Motherboard Content

Features & Specifications

IPS panels with QHD resolution have become the premium displays in nearly every category. Today we’re looking at a style-conscious model from Dell. On the surface, the the S2718D is no different than many other good looking business monitors. It sports a thin bezel, an all-metal stand, and clean cable management, along with one of the thinnest panels we’ve ever seen. If that were the extent of its virtues, it would be a good monitor. But Dell has added something to set it apart from other displays – HDR10 support. This is the first product we’ve seen that incorporates the standard and we’re curious to see how a typical 1000:1-contrast monitor will handle the new High Dynamic Range content found on Ultra HD Blu-ray.

If you look past the S2718D’s HDR-support and high-end styling, it is similar to many displays in this class. The panel is an IPS part with QHD resolution, 8-bit color depth, sRGB color, 60Hz refresh rate, and a flicker-free LED backlight. That makes it ideally suited to the premium enterprise desktop as well as home office dwellers looking for something nicer than the norm.

To this it adds a super thin 7mm bezel and a slick, integrated stand that moves the control buttons and inputs off the panel and down to the desk surface. Cable management will be a breeze, especially considering there are only HDMI and USB-C inputs. The big attraction though, is HDR10 support.

Current displays can integrate either Dolby Vision or HDR10 (or both) for a wider dynamic range and compatibility with the latest Ultra HD content from both Blu-ray and streaming services. The latter is much easier to find and therefore the most logical choice for this monitor. Dolby Vision is still a work in progress, though Sony has announced its first title using the format, Resident Evil: Vendetta, shipping in July.

HDR10 is found on every other Ultra HD Blu-ray disc currently available and will likely be the dominant format for the near future. If Dell wanted to add Dolby Vision to the S2718D, it might be possible with a firmware update.

To see HDR content, you’ll need a compatible player or computer with an HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2 output. The latest Ultra HD Blu-ray players feature this interface. You can also connect with the right video card. Fortunately, there are quite a few choices. On the Nvidia side is the GTX 950 up to the Titan X (Maxwell), or the GTX 1050 to Titan X (Pascal). AMD users can employ an R9 390X or RX 460, 470, or 480. And for Blu-ray users, the S2718D will accept a 3840x2160 signal at up to 60Hz over its HDMI input.

We’ll run our standard benchmarks in SDR mode as well as a new suite of tests for HDR content. We’ve added new tools to our kit, and we’ll explain how the S2718D handles the new format. And we’ll tell you how to enjoy this new content on your own system. Let’s take a look.

Packaging, Physical Layout & Accessories

Dell certainly takes a creative approach to its packaging. The S2718D arrives in a box like a television’s, where you remove four plastic plugs and lift off the top to reveal the contents. Foam is used sparingly, so to protect the monitor Dell uses corrugated cardboard in various shapes. It worked effectively in our case; the sample arrived without a scratch. The panel lifts out fully assembled with its stand.

An external power supply keeps the panel as thin as possible. Additional cables include HDMI and USB-C. Supporting documentation can be downloaded from Dell’s website.

Product 360

The S2718D’s styling is the first thing everyone will notice. It’s one of the most minimalist designs we’ve seen. Most of the internal components are in the all-metal base that houses control buttons and the inputs. It’s connected to the panel with a metal upright and a small hinge that allows 45° swivel to each side, 21° back tilt, and 4° forward. There is no height adjustment, but we found the fixed position to be ideal on our desktop. The hinge does a good job of holding the panel in place, but its small size means there is some wobble after you make a change.

The panel measures just 20mm at its thickest. The back is plastic, but color and texture match the base and upright’s satin aluminum finish perfectly. It’s smoothly tapered and completely unmarred by vents or holes. During operation, the bottom edge is warm to the touch but only slightly. Heat management is exemplary. The screen’s front layer is shiny and should be placed carefully to avoid image-damaging reflections. The 7mm flush-mounted bezel is situated behind that layer for a smooth, integrated look.

The base features control buttons across its front edge. They click with a high-end feel and provide easy and quick access to commonly-used functions and the excellent OSD. In back are HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2 and USB-C inputs along with two USB 3.1 downstream ports and an analog audio output. There are no built-in speakers.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: Best Professional Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: How To Choose A Monitor

MORE: All Monitor Content

OSD Setup & Calibration

The S2718D’s OSD is much like what you’d see on any Dell monitor. It’s logically laid out and contains plenty of options for the user. HDR is supported by two of the picture presets. For SDR content, you can perform a calibration in the Custom Color mode. No image adjustments are available for HDR content.

Luminance is the first sub-menu, and you can adjust the sliders here or with one of the programmable control keys. They are grayed out in HDR mode.

The input selector toggles between HDMI and USB-C interfaces. If you leave Auto Select on, the S2718D will lock onto the first active signal it sees.

The Color menu offers nine image presets plus a Custom Color mode that enables RGB sliders. When viewing HDR content, you must select either Game HDR or Movie HDR before inserting a disc or firing up your HDR-compatible game. If the content has the appropriate metadata, the monitor will flash for a moment as it locks on. In our tests, the Philips Ultra HD Blu-ray player we used indicated HDR mode with an onscreen message.

You can manually select the input format between YPbPr or RGB. We used RGB for both the pattern generator and the Philips UHD player. Different sources may require the component format depending on their individual capabilities.

Remaining image settings include aspect ratio, sleep timer, sharpness, dynamic contrast, and response time. Sharpness is set to 50 by default, but that causes a bit of unwanted edge enhancement so we turned it down one click to 40. In HDR mode, there is ringing that cannot be defeated with the sharpness control. However, it wasn’t too obvious in actual content. Dynamic contrast is only enabled in certain picture modes, but it's locked to the on position in HDR mode. You’ll need it to maximize dynamic range, and it seems to work well without calling attention to itself through brightness pumping. It effectively maintains fine detail in highlight and shadow areas of the image.

Energy consumption can be managed by turning off the power LED during operation and disabling the USB ports’ power-off charge feature. Leaving them on means you can charge things like phones or tablets even when the S2718D is turned off.

The OSD comes in multiple languages, can be made more transparent, and can stay on the screen for up to 60 seconds. You can also lock it to prevent changes by other users.

The first two control keys can be programmed to a variety of monitor functions. The defaults are picture modes and luminance.

The final menu has the DDC/CI toggle, an LCD conditioner to prevent burn-in, and firmware version. If you need to return all settings to their factory defaults, that function is here as well. The signal info appears in the margins of all OSD screens, but we missed any indication of HDR mode when using our Philips UHD Blu-ray player. We had to rely on that component’s messages to know it was working.

Calibration

Calibration is only possible in the Custom Color mode where there are RGB sliders available. The other presets are task-specific and will change color to suit their labeled tasks. For HDR content, you’ll need to select Movie HDR or Game HDR before loading a disc or game. These modes are non-adjustable though we found Movie HDR to be pretty accurate. For SDR content, you’ll want to calibrate or try our recommended settings. We found the S2718D had below-average out-of-box performance in Rec.709-encoded material.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: Best Professional Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: How To Choose A Monitor

MORE: All Monitor Content

Brightness & Contrast

To read about our monitor tests in depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test Monitors and TVs.  Brightness and Contrast testing is covered on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

We don’t have any other HDR-compatible monitors in our database, so we’ve included premium IPS/QHD screens for today’s comparison. All offer similar performance with SDR material. We have ViewSonic’s VP2771, Acer’s BE270U, BenQ’s PD2700Q, AOC’s Q2781PQ, and Nixeus’ PRO Vue 27P. It should be noted that the Acer offers 75Hz and FreeSync while the others lack adaptive-refresh and top out at 60Hz.

The S2718D easily exceeds its claimed 300cd/m² spec with over 330 nits peak brightness. Technically, it’s not enough for HDR, which recommends at least 1000. But you’ll see how Dell handles that limitation in our HDR tests on page five.

The black level is disappointingly high at .3857cd/m² resulting in a static contrast ratio of 856.8. This is merely OK for SDR and computer content, but HDR needs the monitor’s dynamic contrast feature. That’s likely why it’s locked on. And it effectively improves perceived contrast.

Uncalibrated – Minimum Backlight Level

If you like to work, play, or watch in a dark room, the S2718D drops to a perfect 49.5191cd/m² when brightness is set to zero. Black levels decrease in proportion so contrast remains consistent at 839.2:1. While the image is not the most dynamic we’ve seen, it holds up well at every output level, making it easy to find your ideal luminance point.

After Calibration to 200cd/m2

Contrast is slightly reduced after calibration to 761.4:1. Black levels are still at the back of the pack, and even though we increased the contrast slider by one click, dynamic range is still a bit below average. You can use the dynamic contrast feature in several of the fixed image presets, and it works reasonably well, but it’s grayed out in the Custom Color mode. Fortunately, it comes into play in both Movie HDR and Game HDR. These results suggest that the S2718D would benefit from the use of a VA panel. By comparison, IPS doesn’t quite have the chops for HDR.

ANSI Contrast Ratio

ANSI contrast holds steady at 771.7:1, 10 clicks above the static value. The panel is of good quality with decent uniformity, although our sample showed a few minor hotspots in the black field test. Intra-image contrast is only fair though. Again, we’d love to see a VA panel used for this application.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: Best Professional Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: How To Choose A Monitor

MORE: All Monitor Content

Grayscale, Gamma & Color

Grayscale Tracking

Two of the S2718D’s image modes will make the color temp warmer or cooler. And the remaining presets use variations that aren’t quite D65. Standard is the default setting, so that’s where we’ll begin our tests.

Our grayscale and gamma tests are described in detail here.

In the first chart, you can see that blue is clipped enough for most brightness levels to have a red/green tint that becomes more visible as output increases. The Cool setting goes too far in the other direction, making everything look blue. Switching to Custom Color produces a similar result, so the only way to maximize the S2718D’s potential is to adjust the RGB sliders. Calibration produces excellent tracking with errors well below the visible threshold. If you dial in our recommended settings, you’ll be able to duplicate our chart closely.

Comparisons

The S2718D makes quite a gain from its default to calibrated state. 5.41dE is one of the higher out-of-box errors we’ve seen of late. But the final .63dE average error is quite low. So, while it’s a bit weak at first, the potential for greatness is there in the Custom Color mode. And as you’ll see on page five, HDR accuracy is very good.

Gamma Response

Luminance tracking is a key component to proper HDR rendering, so it’s good to see the S2718D excelling in that area for SDR content. Tracking is nearly perfect by default and after calibration. There are a few tiny dips in the Custom Color mode pre-adjustment but our changes cleaned that up nicely. Gamma is perhaps the most important thing to get right on any monitor, so we’re glad to see Dell’s attention to detail in this area.

Comparisons

With a tight .14 value range and a slight .45% deviation from the 2.2 standard, the S2718D takes the gamma comparison over its non-HDR competition. There are no gamma adjustments available, so that’s a very good thing.

Color Gamut & Luminance

For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, please click here.

Thanks to accurate gamma tracking, saturation and luminance targets are mostly met even in the S2718D’s default Standard mode. We can see slight under-saturation in blue and a hue error in cyan, but other colors are fine. This is important, since Ultra HD/HDR content is usually mastered in the wider DCI-P3 color gamut. Because we’re working with an sRGB monitor, it must track accurately to properly render detail when the content’s colorspace is larger than the panel’s. You’ll see what we mean on the next page where we’ll show you the extended gamut test results.

Comparisons

We weren’t thrilled with the S2718D’s default grayscale numbers, but without calibration, its color gamut error averages just 3.66dE. Afterwards, that value drops to a very-respectable 1.59dE. The adjustments are clearly worth making, even if you just dial in our recommended settings.

Gamut volume is an almost perfect 99.34% of the sRGB space. You can use this monitor for color-critical applications if it’s properly adjusted. The native gamut is pretty much right on target.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: Best Professional Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: How To Choose A Monitor

MORE: All Monitor Content

HDR Measurements & Hands-On

To test the S2718D’s HDR feature, we had to add a new device to our calibration toolkit: the HD Fury Integral. It’s a small box that modifies a 1080p SDR signal by adding the appropriate HDR10 metadata. We connected it between our Accupel pattern generator and the display. We also used a special CalMAN workflow designed specifically for HDR10 calibrations. It measures the proper EOTF luminance tracking function, as well as Rec.2020, DCI-P3, and Rec.709 color.

When it comes to the S2718D it’s important to note two things: it must be switched manually into one of its two HDR picture modes before sending the signal; and there are no image adjustments available in either Movie HDR or Game HDR. What you see is what you get. It also engages dynamic contrast even though the OSD option is grayed out. We could see brightness pumping when switching quickly between patterns of varying brightness. There is also visible edge enhancement that cannot be defeated with the sharpness slider. Luckily, color and luminance are fairly accurate. Let’s check out the pertinent graphs.

First up is grayscale tracking. It’s laid out similarly to the graphs we use to measure SDR, only the percent values have been replaced with code values, and there are 16 measurement points. EOTF is the most important aspect of HDR rendering, because luminance is what creates the impression of greater contrast. If the display’s levels don’t match the signal’s, the whole effect collapses. You can see the grayscale stays close to D65 until around code value 500, roughly midway up the brightness scale. At that point, blue begins to clip and a warm tone begins to set in until you get to maximum brightness.

The EOTF chart shows the clip more clearly. It starts to roll off around CV500 and is fully-realized at CV700. What this means is that any signals above 700 will display at the same brightness level. How that affects content depends on how much dynamic range was used during the encoding process. If the S2718D had left its contrast control unlocked, it could be lowered to compensate for this, though bringing out that extra detail would make the picture somewhat flat and murky. The upside is that below the clipping point, it follows the EOTF very closely.

Moving on to color, we ran three sweeps covering Rec.2020, DCI-P3, and Rec.709. Current Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are mastered in the DCI-P3 gamut. The S2718D tracks color saturation well until it hits the limits imposed by its native primaries. This is how an HDR display should look. It manages to nail every target until it simply runs out of color. Though the highest saturations won’t appear, everything below that will be rendered correctly with maximum detail.

When watching HDR content on the S2718D, one should remember that it is still an IPS panel with a native contrast ratio below 1000:1. It won’t suddenly look like an OLED panel in HDR mode. But that judgement must be made while viewing actual content, which is exactly what we did next.

Playing HDR Content On The S2718D

We used the Philips BDP-7501 Ultra HD Blu-ray player to spin a few UHD discs. First off, it’s not quite a plug-and-play experience. You must engage your settings in the right order to make it all work, but it’s simple. After powering up the player, select the S2718D’s Movie HDR picture mode before inserting a disc. This will ensure proper handshake through the signal path to engage HDR10 decoding. In our case, the player’s on-screen messages confirmed we were in HDR mode. If you load the disc before changing picture modes, the player won’t switch the monitor to HDR mode and you’ll need to eject and start again.

To assess the difference in quality, we watched JJ Abrams’ Star Trek and The Martian in both Ultra HD and standard Blu-ray. The S2718D happily accepts Ultra HD signals at full 3840x2160 resolution and down-converts them internally with no apparent artifacts. Watching the same scenes from both standard and UHD discs showed subtle differences in color and dynamic range. The HDR version looks a bit more saturated, and there is clearer detail in both highlight and shadow areas. The dynamic contrast feature doesn’t cause the visible issues we saw during our pattern tests. And the added edge enhancement seems subtle enough not to degrade clarity.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: Best Professional Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: How To Choose A Monitor

MORE: All Monitor Content

Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response & Lag

Viewing Angles

You just might have a few friends around when watching Ultra HD Blu-rays on the S2718D. It’s a good thing it offers decent viewing angles, so sharing won’t cause too many arguments over who gets to sit in the center seat. The side photo shows a slight blue shift and a reasonably small reduction in luminance. The top-down view is quite a bit dimmer with an obvious red tint, though it’s rare that anyone needs to watch from this angle. Performance is right in line with the better IPS panels we’ve tested, though it’s not quite as good as some AHVA screens in our experience.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, please click here.

A few slight hotspots spoil the black field test result. We saw a bit of glow in the center and lower-left zones of the screen. Once the brightness levels rise from black, things improve very quickly. The white field measurement is one of the best we’ve ever recorded. Color uniformity is about average with a slight tint observed in the lower-right zone. Overall quality control seems adequate, and we don’t expect to see many complaints from users. This is a decent looking monitor for sure.

Pixel Response & Input Lag

Please click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

With a 60Hz refresh rate and the absence of adaptive-sync, gamers will likely be considering other displays. But if your gameplay is of the casual variety, the S2718D offers reasonably low input lag and a typical screen draw time. When overdrive is set to Fast, you’ll see very little motion blur and only the slightest ghosting, which is more apparent in the Blur-Busters UFO test than it is in actual content. The only tiny flaw is that it can’t render 24p at a refresh multiple; it’s locked at 60Hz. That causes a bit of judder during side-to-side camera pans, but the image doesn’t break up or become blocky. A fix for this would be a 72Hz refresh rate option.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: Best Professional Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: How To Choose A Monitor

MORE: All Monitor Content

Conclusion

The S2718D is quite clearly a style-oriented product with its super thin panel, narrow bezel, and minimalist stand. And having the controls and inputs in the base just adds to its appeal for an uncluttered desktop. You won’t see any pesky cables sticking out or dangling down its backside. And it redefines the word slim with a panel that’s less than an inch thick. But the addition of HDR10 support makes it so much more than just a good looking monitor with a nice picture. While we would consider it an early implementation of the technology, it’s a step forward that the competition would be wise to imitate.

Taken without HDR, we’d recommend the S2718D for well-funded users with high-end systems. At around $600 at this writing, it’s more expensive than most other IPS/QHD displays. But if you’re looking for the bleeding edge, the addition of HDR pushes it into its own category.

HDR10 is the standard found on Ultra HD Blu-ray and looks to be well established. There are other approaches to the technology coming soon in the form of Dolby Vision and Hybrid Log Gamma. But for now, HDR10 is what you’ll need at minimum. Perhaps the other two standards will be supported with a future firmware update.

It’s clear from our test results that the S2718D does not break new ground in the area of contrast. It lacks the light output to truly present the full dynamic range of HDR, nor does it have sufficiently low black levels. Dell pre-empts this by stating in the manual, “HDR: Adapted High Dynamic Range appropriate for monitor usage.” Obviously, a contrast ratio below 1000:1 won’t truly cut it. But there is a silver lining here.

Our HDR test results show that it will properly track luminance to the EOTF standard for HDR10. And it will render color in both Rec.2020 and DCI-P3 up to its native primary limit. It hits all the targets except the ones outside its capabilities. What this adds up to is an excellent movie-watching experience. We’ve watched a lot of Blu-rays on a lot of computer monitors and none but the S2718D and a handful of VA-based displays can truly replicate what can be seen on a mid-priced television. Those TVs simply have a lot more native contrast. We’re not saying the S2718D will stand up to a OLED panel, but it will present Ultra HD Blu-ray and HDR content in a way that makes it look better than you’d expect.

You’ll need a compatible player and/or video card to make the magic happen, but with the right signal path, you can truly enjoy watching movies or playing games on the S2718D. Some games will cry out for adaptive-refresh and lower input lag, but for most casual play, this is a fine display.

The price isn’t low, but if you’re itching to get your feet wet with HDR on the desktop, there aren’t a multitude of choices out there right now. Unless a similar display appears with a VA panel, competing products aren’t likely to eclipse the performance seen here. For its HDR10 implementation, sleek styling, and good calibrated performance, we’re giving the Dell S2718D our Tom’s Hardware Editor Approved Award.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: Best Professional Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: How To Choose A Monitor

MORE: All Monitor Content

Sony released version 4.50 of the PlayStation 4's system software to beta testers. The update, code-named Sasuke, will allow PlayStation VR owners to watch 3D Blu-rays in stereoscopic 3D on the VR headset. It will also let people better customize their PS4 and use an external HDD.

Supporting 3D Blu-rays is Sony's latest attempt to expand the PSVR's content offerings. (It's also some more salt to rub in the wound left by Sony's decision not to include 4K Blu-ray support in the PS4 Pro.) The company also recently announced that PSVR would support YouTube's 360-degree videos, for example, and previously allowed people to use the PSVR to watch videos on a virtual big screen. Now they'll have access to 3D movies, too.

PS4 owners who haven't yet joined the PSVR revolution will also get some welcome features with the Sasuke update. The console will finally let people use custom backgrounds--no more paying for cringeworthy themes in the PlayStation Store!--and will overhaul the "quick menu" used while playing games. But perhaps the most notable addition will be external HDD support, which is compatible with up to 8TB HDDs with USB 3.0 connections.

"You can download and install applications directly to your extra storage, and the saved contents are easily manageable through the settings menu," Sony said in its announcement. "Also, all the applications saved in the external HDD will appear in the Content Launcher of the Home Screen so it’s easy to keep track of what apps you launched recently."

That's good news for anyone who's bought in to digital-only gaming. Console storage has never been great, but with games sometimes taking up more than 80GB a pop, it hasn't been hard for people to fill up the storage that came with their device. Sony did make it easy to upgrade the built-in storage, but supporting external HDDs both ups the total amount of data people can store and lets those uncomfortable with swapping HDDs get in on the fun.

Sony didn't reveal all the changes coming in the Sasuke update--the company said only that "there are more features" that will be revealed soon. A leaked screenshot suggests that PS4 Pro owners might be able to use the console's extra power in games that haven't been updated to take advantage of it, which could be something to look forward to, and it would also be nice if Sony would let people remove unwanted software from their devices.

We still don't know when Sasuke will make a public appearance, but the 4.50 update is available now for members of Sony's beta program.

I have to confess that I’ve never played any game in the Witcher series, and therefore I also haven’t played the Gwent minigame from the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. That changed this week at Gamescom as I had a hands-on demo of the new, standalone Gwent game.

To start off, I listened to a 20-minute presentation about Gwent, wherein the spokesperson explained that CD Projekt Red received thousands of requests to make it a standalone game. From the minigame variant to the standalone version, the cards now have 3D models of the characters in them with live animations, and they also reworked the UI so that it’s easier to understand.

The developers also rebalanced the game, especially in a multiplayer context. In the original version, you could redraw two cards from your deck before a game, and the cards collected throughout the Witcher 3 would be more powerful as you progressed through the storyline. In this new game, the cards you obtain don’t increase in power as you progress, and you are able to redraw three cards from your deck before each match.

To add cards to the deck, you have to go exploring, much like in the original game. You'll do this via a simple (almost 2D) overhead view, where you walk around an environment. There was a blue dotted line that showed the shortest path to follow the main quest, but you can deviate from it and visit different locations to get clues and additional stories to the plot of the Witcher universe. For the purpose of the demo, the exploration wasn't enabled, and I was offered a pre-selected deck of cards.

Having never played the game before, trying to win was a fruitless effort, so I just played cards in order to understand the mechanics. (Admittedly, even after the demo I still don’t fully understand them.) At one point, I couldn’t understand why some cards I played gave more points to my opponent while others would burn the best card on my own playing field. However, as the game progressed, I roughly began to understand what was happening.

I had about 20 minutes of play time, and the spokesperson said it would take about 15 minutes to get the hang of it—which was about right. I couldn’t master it in that time, and I still have a lot left to figure out, but it did intrigue me so much during the demo that I may actually install it when it comes out on PC (or Xbox One). After all, it’s free-to-play, and the developers assured us that the optional paid content won’t be of a “pay-to-win” nature.

Introduction, Specifications And Features

ASRock has already left a fairly solid impression on us after we tested its Z170 Extreme6, a board that was disqualified from award contention only because we couldn't validate its beta firmware or pre-release accessories kit. That happens sometimes with pre-release product reviews, and ASRock did indeed change its accessories kit immediately after launch.

Today, ASRock gets another bite at the value-supremacy apple with its Z170 Extreme4, the next model down from the Extreme6. The Extreme4's largest downgrade appears to be its loss of the add-in SATA controller in Extreme6. We're even treated to the same I/O panel configuration, with its six USB 3.0 ports, two USB 3.1 ports, triple video outputs, full array of digital and analog audio connections, and a handy CLR_CMOS button.

The loss of two SATA ports hardly seems worth the $25 to $34 price difference on a chipset that automatically supplies six, and that could be good news for value seekers as long as the cheaper model holds up in our stress tests.

Specifications

MORE: Best MotherboardsMORE: 
How To Choose A Motherboard
MORE: All Motherboard Content

Features

The Z170 Extreme4 is still laid-out to support three graphics cards with extra cooling space between the top card, or two cards with really thick coolers, with the two card option more-favored by the board's x16/x0 to x8/x8 automatic switching. That third slot has only four lanes and shares bandwidth with everything else on the chipset (PCIe x1, networking, audio, storage) through an x4 connection to the CPU. Those who would rather configure the Z170 Extreme4 with extra single-slot graphics cards for low-bandwidth applications, such as wall-sized arrays of displays, will find that all three PCIe x1 slots are also open-ended, allowing the use of more-common PCIe x16 graphics cards.

The Z170 Extreme4 even has those same annoying single-sided DIMM latches that the Extreme6 features. Designed to ease memory replacement in boards with tight DIMM-to-graphics-card clearance, the Z170 Extreme4 doesn't even make practical use of this feature, unless a builder chooses to put a super-long card in the uppermost PCIe x1 slot. As a memory tester, I've seen the sliding force contact "fingers" wear a single-latched slot out after a few dozen installations. Typical enthusiasts, if there ever was such a thing, should have little concern.

ASRock calls what looks like an 8+4 voltage regulator "10-phase." Though that could mean 10+2 phase, I'll call it 12-phase since so many of ASRock's competitors quit advertising how their regulators are split. What's apparent is that these use ASRock's traditional chokes rather than the fancy ones of the Extreme6, but what's not apparent is whether or not this will affect overclocking. ASRock rates the Extreme6's chokes at 60A and traditional chokes at 20A, but their math still adds up to far more power than our Core i7-6700K needs to sustain a solid overclock.

ASRock added a switch for selecting between the two firmware ICs without advertising the feature, and even its manual shows three jumper pins there. Overclockers should enjoy the extra convenience of the switch and, should they somehow corrupt both ROMs, also enjoy that ASRock's ROMs are socket-mounted.

The Extreme4's onboard extras consist primarily of a power button, a reset button, and a two-digit status code display. We also find a Thunderbolt upgrade card header and a PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 connector, both of which have become fairly common on mid-priced Z170 motherboards.

Layout is pleasing, with the "missing" expansion slot located under the upper PCIe x16 slot where it would likely be covered by a graphics cooler anyway, a USB 3.0 front-panel header located at the front edge above the uppermost slot, and an EPS12V power connector pushed far away from most bulky CPU coolers. Users with poorly-designed cases might have trouble getting their front-panel audio cables to reach the bottom-rear corner, but they should blame their case manufacturer for that.

The Z170 Extreme4 comes with four SATA cables and a single SLI bridge. Builders who install an M.2 drive should be completely satisfied with this cable assortment, since using the M.2 connector disables two of the six SATA ports.

Software And Firmware

Software

ASRock has removed most of its software from motherboard driver DVDs, instead relying on its Live Update utility to provide users the latest software of its applications. The company has even re-added its A-Tuning application to the downloads sheet of Live Update, and that probably means that updates for the Z170 PCH (and LGA 1151 platform) are complete.

Live Update also includes a BIOS & Drivers update utility, which checks the version you're using against the latest version on its update server, and scheduling, in case you'd like automatic update reminders. Classic ASRock apps include the Dehumidifier synthetic load cycling app (to remove condensation), USB Key for using a USB key as your login identifier, and the X-Fast RAM utility for creating a virtual drive partition on excess RAM. The above image is solitary this time so that interested users can click through (twice) to see it at full scale.

A couple of other things found on the DVD include X-Fast LAN traffic shaping by cFos and the associated applications for drivers. ASRock includes a DTS Neo PC with the Z170 Extreme4, which adds 5.1 and 7.1 virtualization to the traditional DTS Connect live multichannel encoding technology.

ASRock A-Tuning provides pre-defined overclock settings, automatic overclocking with stability tests, and manual overclocking controls. Auto Tuning runs automatically, but only got our CPU to 4.3 GHz; Optimized CPU Settings are copied from firmware and require a reboot, and Advanced Turbo adds a jump from DDR4-2133 to DDR4-2400 to the 4.6 and 4.7 GHz profiles of Optimized CPU OC.

A-Tuning's hardware monitor is a little better than the one found in firmware, but its System Browser and Fan-Tastic Tuning apps are nearly identical. Those apps are good in firmware, too.

Firmware

Z170 Extreme4 firmware opens to EZ Mode, though there is a switch in Advanced Mode to change that setting. CPU EZ OC is a basic 4.4 GHz setting copied from Advanced-mode's Turbo 4.40 GHz setting at stock settings, and Turbo 4.6 GHz bumps maximum core voltage to 1.296V. Turbo 4.7 GHz and Turbo 4.8 GHz use 1.36V and 1.39V core settings with Level 1 Load Line Calibration to boost load voltage by up to 60mV beyond initial settings.

This particular Core i7-6700K sample routinely reaches 4.60 GHz at 1.30V, and the Z170 Extreme4 got it there with some voltage variation since the closest Load Line Calibration setting, Level 3, was still a little too aggressive. Dropping the core voltage setting to 1.28V fixed the over-voltage condition, but also pushed the CPU's maximum stable frequency to 4.45GHz. DRAM voltage was also a little high, where the 1.330V setting pushed 1.350V to the memory slot.

The Z170 Extreme4 has more than enough memory settings to reach super-high clocks, yet it couldn't even push the tested DDR4-3600 modules to a mere DDR4-3200. The best bet for performance and stability on this motherboard should be tightly-timed DDR4-2933 or DDR4-3000.Test

Test Results, Overclocking And Conclusion

Test System Configuration

We continue to use the test configuration from our initial Z170 round-up in the evaluation of concurrent samples.

Traditional "new on top" chart order gives way to "descending order of price" on this occasion, as the Z170 Extreme4 most closely matches the features and design of ASRock's own Z170 Extreme6. The search for value puts a target on the higher-priced board.

Comparison Motherboards

Synthetic Benchmark Results

The Z170 Extreme4 takes a few small wins not because it's better, but because it comes factory-overclocked by just under 1 percent. That same slight overclock is likely to hurt the board a little in power readings, and we'll keep it in mind during future performance evaluations.

3D Game Benchmarks

That 0.9 percent overclock doesn't help the Z170 Extreme4 at all in games, even though the lower half of our game settings are designed to stress the CPU and/or memory.

Timed Benchmarks

The Z170 Extreme4's tiny default overclock defines tiny leads in Premiere, Blender and 7-Zip, but we don't see any true breakaway moments. A look at the combined scores might just show this board slower than its 0.9 percent error.

Power, Heat And Efficiency

The Z170 Extreme4's 0.9 percent overclock appears to cost buyers a few percent in power consumption, while producing an artificial performance advantage of only 1 percent above-average. It comes out 1.2 percent above-average in performance-per-watt, but that's mostly because another board skewed the average so far downward.

Heat was likely another factor in the Z170 Extreme4's efficiency reduction when compared to the Extreme6, as ASRock boasts higher-quality voltage regulator components for the Extreme6.

Overclocking

Equipped with one-less SATA controller than its Extreme6 sibling, the Z170 Extreme4's drastically lower price raises a few value questions. Some of those questions might be addressable by overclocking the unit, since both ASRock boards are designed for this purpose.

Both boards would get the CPU to 4.6 GHz, but the Z170 Extreme4 wouldn't hold a 1.30V CPU core under changing loads regardless of settings. Sticking to the "all boards get the same voltage limit" rule for the sake of fairness, the lower setting with a 1.30V peak resulted in a second-place maximum clock rate.

DRAM overclocking was far worse, with even the low-cost Z170-HD3 producing better results. Of course some of that could be due to the Extreme4 using more performance-oriented, rather than stability-oriented, timings.

A quick test at DDR4-2933 shows at least part of the reason why the Z170 Extreme4 came up shy in DRAM clock, as its DRAM performance at this relatively-moderate clock is excellent. That can only come from performance-oriented automatic adjustment, since I haven't set any of the timings manually. And, just between us reviewers and readers, 34GB/s is a higher bandwidth rating than many of the Z170 Extreme4's competitors have produced at DDR4-3200.

Conclusion

The overclocking results leave this editor in somewhat of a jam, since I was hoping to get Z170 Extreme4 results at least as good as the Z170 Extreme6. After all, the cheaper board has over a month's worth of additional firmware development. It looks like the hardware just isn't there, as ASRock really does promote the hidden value of the Extreme6's higher-priced voltage regulator.

If the comparison between the $146 Z170 Extreme4 and the $180 Z170 Extreme6 proves too difficult, perhaps it would be better to compare Gigabyte's Z170-HD3. It's a solid board for the low price of $115, but it also lacks any USB 3.1 controller, comes up a little short in CPU overclocking, and doesn't even have those little PCIe pathway switches needed to get eight of the CPU's lanes to a second graphics card. That combination of features is certainly worth $30, no?

MORE: Best Motherboards
MORE: How To Choose A Motherboard
MORE: All Motherboard Content

In the months leading up to CES, my inbox was pounded daily with pitches about revolutionary, world's [fill in the blank] wearables, as well as the smartest, most secure, easiest-to-use, world's [fill in the blank] smart home solutions. Most of that is marketing bluster, and that's actually been a notable problem in those markets. There are too many problems unsolved, too many pretenders, and too much is proprietary.

MediaTek is well aware of all of this, but as a chip maker, it's working to resolve some of the above issues and also assert itself in those markets by underpinning any number of solutions. The company released the MT2523 SoC for smartwatches and other wearables and the MT7697 for smart home devices. (It also has the MT8581, a new Blu-ray SoC.)

For "Smartwatches," But Not Those Smartwatches

When you think "smartwatch," you usually think of high-powered, GUI-rich devices like the Apple Watch or Samsung's Gear watches. The MT2523 is not designed for those. Instead, it's aimed more at the type of "smartwatches" that Intel has been working on, such as the Basis smartwatch, or perhaps the Pebble. This latter type of smartwatch is designed more as a fashion accessory or timepiece first, and the tech is added second.

The strategy there is that people are more inclined to buy a timepiece that they would normally want to wear, as opposed to some geek chic smartwatch that just doesn't look sharp with a well-tailored suit. What Intel, and MediaTek, are trying to do is to add smart tech into those products. Thus is the raison d'être of the MT2523.

MediaTek told Tom's Hardware that the chip is designed for smartwatches, fitness trackers and other similar wearables with displays (but not GUI-rich ones), and it offers a Cortex M4-class CPU clocked up to 208 MHz at 1.3 V. Instead of an integrated GPU, the MT2523 sports fixed-function 2D hardware and can handle displays up to 320x320. It's built on the 55nm process.

"The display component supports MIPI-DSI and serial interfaces, resulting in a high-resolution mobile screen. It includes 2D capabilities of true color, per pixel alpha channel and anti-aliasing fonts, plus 1-bit index color to save memory and computing power,"read the press release.

The company claimed that this SoC is 41 percent smaller than the competition yet is efficient enough that it can offer battery life of about a week. It will have integrated RAM and flash. There will be versions of the MT2523 with and without GPS (a five-mode solution will include GLONASS, for example), and it will support dual-mode Bluetooth (BT and BT LE) and offer a power management unit (PMU). The sans-GPS version will measure 6.2 x 5.8 mm, and the version equipped with GPS is 9.2 x 6 mm.

Generally, the MT2523 is designed to offer quick wake up and shutdown capabilities, which ostensibly conserves power.

MediaTek will be sampling device makers in Q1 2016, and we can expect actual devices running the MT2523 on the market within the first half of the year.

Connecting The Smart Home And The Smartphone

The second of MediaTek's trio of new chips is the MT7697, which actually serves as an IoT "bridge" to the MT7687. "The MT7687 is designed for connecting smart appliances and smart gadgets to Wi-Fi, whereas the MT7697 powers Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections for smart gadgets and wearables," read the press release.

MediaTek indicated that these two chips, along with its smartphone SoCs, can work together in various devices for a fully-connected "life." Built with a Cortex M4 CPU, the MT7697 offers DB Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and CM4, and it has onboard RAM and a 10 decibel-milliwatts (dBm) power amp. The idea is that it can handle both short-range (BLE) and longer-range (Wi-Fi) connectivity in the home.

There's another version of the MT7697 coming, the MT7697D, that offers dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) Wi-Fi.

Also, Blu-Ray

Although it's not exactly sexy, MediaTek announced an SoC for Blu-ray players. The company said that with the MT8581, it's the "only company with a dedicated chipset for Blu-ray players."

In any case, the MT8581 (built on 28 nm) supports UHD 4K and high-dynamic range (HDR).

Support includes:

Blu-ray, DVD and CD playback (including BD-Live and BonusView)Scale up to 4K from DVD, scale down to a non-4K screen4K (3840x2160) video decoding: HEVC, H.264 and VP9 4K 60p2K (1920x1080) video decoding: MPEG-2, VP8 and VC-1 2K 60pAudio decoding: Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, and DTS-HD master audio

Mass production is slated for the second half of the year.

Seth Colaner is the News Director for Tom's Hardware. Follow him on Twitter @SethColaner. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.

A Guide to Professional Video Editing Software

Video Editing Software Buyer's Guide:

1. Video Editing Hardware: What You’ll Need To Get Started
2. A Guide To Free Video Editing Software
3. A Guide To Inexpensive Video Editing Software
4. A Guide To Professional Video Editing Software

Ready for the big-bucks big time?

There’s no way, in a single article, to fairly describe or compare the depth and breadth of these powerful, professional appliances. And, of course, each of you is coming at this exercise from differing needs and goals. So, I’ll vector toward striking the high points – and singing the sour notes – of each toolkit in an abbreviated effort to give you a sense of their flavors. That, at least, will save you some time when you embark upon your own deep diving expeditions…

Shodan Edit Ninja — Advanced Video Editing Software

The quanta will now leap. You aren’t satisfied with the features of basic editing packages. You want professional results. You need advanced utensils. May I assume that you’re intending to make serious money with them?

Caution: it’s one thing to work on your own projects at you own pace, but quite another to service the needs of clients. Your customers will want all three sides of the creative triangle: Fine Quality/High Speed/Low Cost. You’re going to have to learn to fly on your NLE. And it has to be good enough to keep you aloft.

You may need to bump your hardware up too. Pop over to our recommended hardware configurations to see how much horsepower you’ll require. Check out the hardware discussion in our Video Editing: what Do You Need? Part 1.

Get an even bigger disk. You may be working on longer form shows, a gravitational effect of convergence/democratization. Some “pro-sumer” price-point cameras are spitting out true 4K video now.

Learn to love RAID arrays. It merely sucks when you lose a week of work on your personal project. It’s a total catastrophe if you blow up a client’s job. And if you need to keep projects for later revision, you must have a media management strategy. This is the least fun—but most necessary—part of high-end editing.

Consider doubling up on your GPU. Maybe the most fun of having a capable editor driving a powerful platform is dropping in high-end visual effects plug-ins like those from BorisFx. Or get your kicks “round-tripping” elements out to a parallel universe of specialty tools as one can on Planet Adobe between Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop and Illustrator.

Professional video tools and ever-faster processors confer great creative power. We can do wonders on our own, in seclusion, like monks masterfully illuminating a manuscript.

But something has gotten lost on the way to the edit room in this last decade: the producer in the room. Several of my broadcast editor-friends complain of the growing gap between the editor and the show; a physical and psychic disconnect from the other creative trades on projects. Written in our DNA, a time when we used to invent, share, embellish and, yes, edit stories around the fire. As recently as the turn of the 21st century, we huddled like a family in an edit suite. Now, we DropBox low-res reference cuts to tiny phone screens to wait for notes and approvals from distracted clients. No real-time creative interaction.

Avid Media Composer

Avid Media Composer (Best in Class)

(Mac + Windows)Street price: “…it’s complicated.”

Yeah, I gotta go with Avid Media Composer. This is the default workhorse tool of television and film. Its long evolution has been torturous and expensive for video editors. It has been agonizing and exasperating for Avid’s internal developers. The company has edged near death more than once. But the software is now mature, solid, stable and (dare I say) a little sexy in its own stodgy way.

With your purchase of Media Composer you, today, stand tall upon a huge pile of mangled souls—bruised professional users and wounded former Avid employees—who have fought for a quarter-century (often against one another) to fix bugs and forge the ragged frontier of non-linear editing. You benefit from their years of toil and frustration. Shed a tear. Say a prayer. Salute them.

Now go edit your little tush off. Because, with Media Composer, there's hardly anything you can't do.

But sometimes Media Composer’s way of getting you there is Byzantine. It takes a while to turn a massive ship at sea. Avid has been lagging behind smaller, more nimble companies in several innovations. There’s no lack of engineering acumen at Avid; it’s more about the need to ensure any new feature is compatible with a much larger user-base than most competitors. When those customers are enterprise-class pros (most Avid users are), there’s great demand for stable performance on existing (“sunk cost”) hardware.

Avid’s competitors were quicker to let you work directly with native media formats. Avid began to address this with Media Composer 7’s Avid Media Access (AMA) protocol. But AMA’s implementation wandered down bit of a bumpy road. In Media Composer 8, AMA percolates mixed resolutions much more smoothly.

You can drag and drop media files into a bin—which initiates an Import, transcoding and cloning as needed. Holding down modifier keys (Alt on Windows/Option on Mac) instead conjures an AMA link, essentially creating an Alias in your bin and accessing the media without importing. You can color-code such clips, so a glance at your timeline will tell you what’s native in the session and what is linked. All of this “AMA-ing” (yes, it’s now a verb) can speed your workflow, as long as the needed media drives are connected during your final Export.

Avid now also lets you transcode in the deep background, meaning you can set a list of mixed-media clips to wash, dry and fold themselves any time the CPU is active, even if you quit Media Composer entirely. It reminds me of the old school days of batch-process code compiling, but now with terabytes of 4K, 3D and HDR.

But the speed and crashworthiness of your workflow is still inversely proportional to the amount of transcoding needed. If you can set your project up to ingest a single format, Avid will fly like the industrial strength power plant you have a right to expect. Mixing resolutions puts a tax on your hardware; usually not a big deal, but it can get seriously squishy if you’re on an older CPU.

One great reason to work with 2K or 4K sources is Media Composer’s ability to re-frame (crop) radically in the edit, while still maintaining full 1080p HD resolution. It’s called Frame Flex. It saves you save time in the shoot and preserves your creative options because you can do your critical framing in post. If an actor threw down an inspired (but very subtle) expression, you can get the close-up needed to sell it. Not to mention the product shot for the agency producer to whom no brand mark is ever big enough…

But let's say you want to stay in 4K or UHD all the way. The v.8.3.1 release of Media Composer will support you. You can either work with these super-heavy media directly on the timeline, or cut using proxy-files and only call the native camera files on export. Newer cameras with huge sensors and high frame-rates make fat files. A RED 4K cranking at 59.94p will spit uncompressed video at more than 700MB per second. Even with ProRes compression, your NLE is fielding a stream of over 125MB/sec. if you have enough hardware horsepower, Media Composer will cut it.

Directors of Photography are staring to work with Look Up Tables (LUTs) right there on-set. This lets them capture full-range (but flat looking) files, yet see what proper profile color grading will do to them in post. Thus, the DP, the Director, the Producer, the Talent can all see the shot in the finished look of the film right there, without having to commit to anything.

Editors develop their own style of cutting. Like playing a musical instrument, pros get their best performances when wailing on their own axes. Media Composer’s highly customizable User Profiles feature lets you set up your bench the way you need it. And you can take it with you onto any Media composer system. I can’t stress how important this is for those who do this day-in, day-out. When it’s right, the interface melts away and you feel like you’re sculpting movies with your fingers around the images, like the best moments of cooking, molding modeling clay and making love, all rolled together. Well, something like that anyway.

In days gone by, a complex Media Composer session looked like a train wreck of overlapping Bin windows and Tool palettes. Since v.6, the software has gone to a tabbed navigation look that allows you to step through bins with drop-down mini-menus. You may also nest folders hierarchically inside of Bins. Doing so makes a big session manageable, even on a laptop’s limited screen real estate.

Looking at a Bin in Frame View lights up your visual cognition circuits. Thumbnails of clips appear. You can play each clip right in the window. And, yes, you can set the thumbnail frame. The flow of the show immediately starts coming together in your mind. You can drag clips around to create a quick and dirty Storyboard, which is handy for getting approvals from bosses above or for assigning “scut-work” to colleagues below.

Switching that same Bin to Script View lets you type or paste as much text as you want into an annotation bar with each clip. Dramatic script, documentary transcript, take-selection, director’s notes; whatever you need to see the narrative flow of a great show take shape before you.

Audio in Media Composer is taking a ridiculously long time to become fully integrated with ProTools, Avid’s industry standard audio DAW driver. A bit of company history perhaps explains this. Avid (East Coast) acquired the Digidesign (West Coast)—creator of ProTools—two decades ago. One was sample-based, the other frame-based. Culturally, Avid has long been a house divided.

But the matrimony is finally flowing. The mixer in Media Composer looks and feels like a toddler-level ProTools. The ability to set audio Clip Gain right on the time line, event by event, grew into Media Composer (and Avid’s ProTools 11). This is handy, letting you optimize each bit of sound as you work, building your mix as you go, without writing fader automation. And Media Composer has finally added a Master Fader to its mixer, at last replicating the most obvious feature of all analog audio consoles since the 1930s. Better late than never, Avid.

You can drop RTAS plug-ins across Avid tracks, but you may have to render them out to hear them. And sometimes they will invisibly hang; if your ears aren’t wary, you’ll miss the fail. 

It took Avid coders many years, but they’ve finally got over acting like stuck-up, self-centered computer nerds and learned to speak some actual television. And film. Along the way, the Avid product marketing team realized how bright their user-base actually was. Avid unbundled its systems (though way too late) to let users jockey their own hardware configs.

Font-work, for a long time, was a no-win choice of the puerile Avid Title Tool or the quirky Avid Marquee Tool. But now Avid FX is ratcheting up to its competitors' market level in the craft of text-over-video. Avid has also opened itself to the third-party specialist world; New Blue’s Titler Pro and VisTitle (Windows-only) are the go-to choices. And, of course, you can wormhole your way out of the Avid universe to the venerable Adobe After Effects. If you need custom 3D, you’ll need to bounce outside of Avid (into something like Blender), then import your final result.

Media Composer is industrial strength software, battle tested in high-pressure broadcast shops and tweaked in response to finicky film directors. Along the journey, Avid developed powerful metadata search tools to help you organize your artistic endeavors and access your assets amid your growing library.

Pushed by Adobe into the realm of subscription software, Avid now offers Media Composer for $49.99/month. Or you can buy it. If you already own it (I do) you can "lock in your perpetual license for $299.00 and get access to every software update plus standard Avid support for the next year—or subscribe for $39.99 per month for the first year." A cynical unpacking of the qualifiers and hidden gotchas behind that bit of marketing-speak suggests Avid would really, really like you to slip from privileged owner to addicted renter status, though it doesn't have the fortitude to insist upon your servitude. At least not just yet.

A less cynical perspective on Avid’s pricing reveals that it lets you grow or shrink your commitment to Media Composer, based on the changing needs of your enterprise. If you suddenly expand to need, say, 20 editors to cut your reality show footage, you’ll want to transition to a floating server license deal. If you are building down after a long-running production has sunset, Avid will step down with you to manage your sunk costs. 

More pertinent to most of us, the Avid subscription model will likely reduce the cycle time between upgrades and bug fixes. If you own Media Composer now, you should spend the $299 in 2014 (or by the end of your current support plan). If not, you will probably find yourself re-buying the whole package next year (it’s $1299 now).

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with freezing your platform at its current level of capability and running it until you can no longer replace the hardware or patch the software. You’d be driving down a one-way street into an evolutionary cul-de-sac. But not everybody likes to live downtown.

Avid support is—and has always been—surprisingly annoying. Though you may pay into the (exorbitant) “Support” assurance plan, prepare yourself for the bum’s rush if you are not a broadcast network or large post-production house.

I recently had the experience of waiting 28 minutes for an Avid support rep to answer his phone. Then I got to watch him remote-access my desktop and witness my issue first-hand, only to have him send me e-mail four days later demanding that I take screenshots of the problem he saw in real-time. And I’m still waiting for the fix. Unconscionable!

In what is perhaps an effort to act with more egalitarian morality, Avid is apparently pivoting to a “Googlesque” model of customer self-help. But Avid lacks Google’s deep pockets to resource the development of the needed online infrastructure. Until it gets there, if you want to solve a problem related to Avid’s architecture, you pay them to fix it.

We are focused on editing tools in this article. But know that Avid is a strong player in media management, enterprise-class workflow, distribution and play-out technologies; the stuff that comes before, behind and subsequent to your picture cutting wizardry.

If you are delivering to television, you won’t find better export compatibility. Right now, chances are your export will be transcoded at least one more time for play-out to air (by something like Grass Valley’s STRATUS cloud). But it is theoretically possible to play out of Avid, direct-to-air, via Avid’s Unity ISIS (Infinitely Scalable Intelligent Storage) system. If, say, you were starting your own news channel, you’d want to digitize once—at the camera—and be able to whip that asset to air, live or on-demand, with added value or simply raw. You could do it all in Avid-land.

As the media world spins into cloud creation, no work of art is ever truly new or wholly finished. But Avid can be there, powering your process, at every step past the lens.

Adobe Premiere Pro Creative Cloud

Adobe Premiere Pro Creative Cloud

(Mac + Windows)Street price: ”Confusing…”

Global warming is causing faster uptake of worldwide water into cloud-mass. So, too, has the suck-rate of video tools into cloud computing increased. And, as you might expect with such a major shift of basic data crunching, some unfortunate side effects come raining down in bug form.

“Pioneers get the arrows,” it is said. Adobe pushed deep into the frontier of “computing as a service” when it ported Premiere, along with its software siblings from Creative Suite, into the Creative Cloud. If you had a license to run CS, you can start shelling out $49.99 per month to pull updates from CC. If you’re a new customer, pay $69.99 per month or $839.88 per year “prepaid.”

Internet-resident software is seductive to companies. In white hat mode, they can offer seamless, rapid upgrades and fixes to their consumers. With their black hats on (or, at least, with their green eyeshades), they can shakedown addicted patrons (you), extracting an ascending rate structure of fees at will.

Adobe has been far more benevolent than predatory in its execution of Premiere Pro CC. Cruise the various fora. You’ll see very few horror stories, with most incidents exemplary of good-natured bungling rather than covert evil-doing.

Upon launching Creative Cloud, a few things immediately broke for many users. Examples include multi-cam editing, gamma curve replication, addressing older video hardware and others. But, to the company’s credit, Adobe seems to have addressed these and most similar issues quickly, if not completely.

As a mostly Media Composer editor, I love that Premiere Pro can import Avid timelines. You may have to monkey around with re-linking when you restart before all of your imported Avid clips find their way through the woods. But it works!

The “great attractor” of Adobe, for visual artists, is that close family of tools that is Adobe Creative Suite/Cloud. Dynamic Linking is how you pass your works of art between Premiere Pro other Creative Cloud toolkits, particularly After Effects. This teaming effectively replicates on your laptop what a half-million-dollar roomful of Silicon Graphics/Flame workstation could do a decade and a half ago. Dynamic Linking might be the single biggest raison d'être to go Adobe Premiere Pro over Avid’s Media Composer.

Color grading in Pro, on its own, is neither brilliant nor particularly subtle. But dynamically link your project out to SpeedGrade and you can paint with cunning delicacy or wild abandon. SpeedGrade’s interface is a hierarchical tree of color wheels. If you grew up on curve bending, this will take some getting used to. But it is enormously powerful. Adobe recently wired it so you can tweak your master clips. Of course, you can also venture outside the Creative Cloud to the black magic of DaVinci Resolve for extremely critical tint-work (for fussy clients). But to shade and grade fast, right on the timeline, many pros turn to Red Giant’s Colorista.

Adobe speaks metadata fluently. Type a search term into Pro’s project panel and assets dutifully present themselves to you. Premiere’s Speech Search can associate spoken dialog with text, for those increasingly rare projects that are actually scripted. In fact, you can mark/trim clips based on spoken words right in the Speech Analysis pane (very cool for documentaries). Face Detection can navigate you to recurring characters in your footage (handy for entertainment shows).

As good as its metadata manipulations may be, Premiere Pro seems to lose track of assets more often than Media Composer. On the other hand, Adobe’s reconnection tools work faster than Avid’s re-linking functions.

Are you Transitional? I am, with respect to video. Yes, the “cut” is still the best and most elegant from of video transition. But—when playing in appropriate visual-music languages—I do use wipes, generally softening edges quite a bit and producing a “shaped-dissolve” to direct the eye. In Premiere Pro CC 2014, Adobe kills much of its formerly rich palette of transition effects. Yes, a case can be made that any such contrivance is better constructed in After Effects and imported. Still, it was nice to do it quickly in the editor.

More than ever before, it’s become important for each of your creations to have a consistent and topically motivated “look.” Pro’s Adjustment Layer permits you to audition and apply global treatments to stacks of tracks, without having to nest them or composite them. And, importantly, you can tweak the effects while loop-playing sections or the whole. It’s a powerful hack for subtle manipulations (or rapacious violations) of your cut footage. With sufficient hardware, you can watch the changes in real time without rendering.

Premiere leverages your GPU to accelerate rendering, particularly of special effects. It brands this bit of kit as the Mercury Playback Engine. How much load Mercury hands your GPU depends on your graphics board. Adobe first began to task Nvidia GPUs with the release of CS5 (through the CUDA API). With CS6, Adobe went to OpenCL, which can speak to a select set of AMD GPUs. The approach continues under Creative Cloud. Driving the GPU doesn’t accelerate your encoding/ingesting, but it can speed up certain tasks. De-interlacing, effect-renders, some blurs and chores like scaling come out faster/better for having been offloaded from the CPU. For really intense color grading and animation rendering, think strongly about doubling up your GPU. Yes, play two-card Monte with your extra slots. See this excellent account of problem solving with “Dual ‘CUDA’s” by Ryan Ashford working at Matell (sign in through LinkedIn).

Over in the audio domain, Premiere Pro tries to keep you out of trouble. Drag a sound byte or music cue into the timeline and Pro spawns a new track for it. But the software tends not to use standard audio-engineer speak. Adobe can run the wide creed of VST audio effects and modifier plug-ins, but not universally so. From your colleagues, you will hear tales of inexplicable errors (especially on Windows platforms).

Premiere Pro’s interface is easy to operate. The “panels” (work windows) size and tile smoothly with a nice stick function. Your workspace always looks organized and runs intuitively.

I certainly like Premiere Pro’s slip and slide timeline sizing. It’s very easy to zip around and down into my cut—even with a very long-form show. Perfect for that phase of the edit when you have a handful of those “gotta-use-it” shots and are searching for the exact right places to surface them.

Dynamic trimming is another workhorse technique made easy in Pro. This lets you shift edit points on the fly, while watching a loop centered on whatever you’ve set as your default transition point. There's no better way to feel the visual rhythm of your cut.

Like many actions in Pro (and other top-line NLEs), there are keyboard commands well worth learning for speedy workflow. You can also key in values for Numeric Editing. I tend to think musically when editing. Once having defined a beat by frame count, I like to edit on multiples of that frame numeral—like beats in bars of music.

Another sort of bar, one that is set entirely too low across the industry, is customer service. As with Avid, Adobe seems to be forcing customers into the Google model of self-help. It works for Google because its product is entirely on-line, Google is wealthy and Google is a virtual monopoly. Adobe has competitors, but it is large and deeply infused into its markets. It could set the industry bar for customer success much higher if it stepped up. Are you listening, San Jose?

Yes, it’s completely appropriate for Adobe to present online customers a tree of “Top Issues.” But, if your issue isn’t among the handful of common questions, Adobe’s escalation path resembles corporate IT: “Open a ticket and pray.” Also, Adobe’s support is heavily weighted toward selling you more Adobe products. Don’t get me wrong, I like Adobe products. I buy Adobe products. But to slip barefaced marketing under the skirt of support is a perversion of the customer’s expectation.

There has also been a lot of recent user pushback about Adobe new site design. It is clearly optimized for mobile platforms. But is that really a good thing? Or just a trying to be chill thing? How often do you actually edit video on your phone? Many pro users are on workstations, or at least laptops, and do not appreciate this.

Additionally, Adobe’s internal forum functionality attracts a lot of negative critique. The fora seem curated by bot, which is to say: not. On the other hand, there’s a superb one on LinkedIn. If you like to read and are the motivated introvert type (self-starting hermit, like me) you can use Adobe’s excellent tutorial library to totally self-educate. But it’s not like having a knowledgeable someone at the other end of the phone…

EditShare Lightworks PRO 11.5

EditShare Lightworks PRO 11.5

(Windows + Linux; Mac version in “Public Beta” at the time of this writing)Street price: ~$60/year + some one-time codec charges

I envy feature film and documentary editors. They get to sink their creative teeth into deep projects. Most of the time, they have the luxury of concentration on subtlety. They are tasked with striving for elegance. They can worry sequences for weeks. They can learn their subjects’ rhythms. They can inhabit and marinate in a project’s culture. They can be artists, not hacks like me.

Lightworks PRO, long a filmmaker’s friend, is similarly subtle and elegant and beautifully organized. It’s just exquisite. It’s inclusive. And it’s inexpensive. I love it.

But I can’t use it.

I inhabit a world of assembly-line editorial. Short-form projects pass through us like sorority sisters at a frat party. Barely time to dance and do the deed, then on to the next romp. So demands the short attention span mass media market. In our case, it’s a Media Composer/ProTools planet.

Lightworks excels at long-form. It is simple, straightforward and intuitive. Yet it also rocks very advanced trim types. PRO is also quite fast and facile in Multicam mode: As many sources of as many formats as you could want. You can bang it like a live switcher, then step in and refine a cut as needed.

Like blocking a film, Lightworks PRO's Storyboard mode lets you push clip-tiles around to string out scenes. You can trim each clip directly. Then flip the whole progression to an edit sequence with a tap of your finger.

Lightworks’ Project Browser is intentionally minimalist. No menus. No nav bar. No “Save!” It stores everything you do, with apparently limitless Undo/Redo. There's just a toolbar to steer your edit by, like Lightworks doesn’t want you to be distracted by anything other than your footage. Simple export or play-out to a real-time recorder. It’s all very Zen.

Audio can follow video as you cut. Drag and drop shots to the timeline and their sound will follow—or not, if you prefer—with PRO’s Audio Linking function.

Beyond its filmic heritage, Lightworks PRO has bright potential in the open-source future, where footage can originate anywhere, shot by anyone, on every format. Lightworks will suck in almost anything (15 container types and growing), at any resolution, and cut it—without transcoding—right on the timeline.

Color timing is solid, addressing your GPU’s horsepower for fast realization. Lightworks recently signed on to the bandwagon of presets for various looks. Expect a growing catalog of these, but it’s not fully there yet. If you’re the type who shades by warping a curve in color-space, this latest version of Lightworks now supports you. But for special effects work, you will need to push your sequence beyond Lightworks’ borders. If, say, you’re conforming an entire movie to an unusual chromatic universe (think Gattaca, for example), Lightworks looks like it expects you to send your digital inter-negative out to a colorist for final finishing.

Tracing back to its Steenbeck film heritage, Lightworks offers a special purpose peripheral console modeled after flatbed ergonomics. It puts hardware function buttons and a jog-shuttle/scrubber wheel under your hand. But prepare for sticker-shock: at $2800, it’s for true professionals only. Lightworks will sell you its color-coded, function icon-adorned USB Keyboard for $145. If you’re a hunt-and-peck typist (like me), it’s a good value. Other brands—Avid MC, Adobe Premiere, Apple FCX, Grass EDIUS and Sony Vegas—rely on LogicKeyboard to supply dedicated pianos.

Lightworks Pro is only available on a yearly license basis ($60). Some special codecs—Avid’s DNxHD, for example—attract a one-time fee.

Sony Vegas Pro 13

Sony Vegas Pro 13

Street price: $400 for video + audio only / $550 with Blu-ray authoring  / $650 for “Suite”, which adds Sound Forge

The problem I have with Vegas (the town) is the prevalence of truly deadbeat, destitute gambling addicts haunting the slots when they should be home sleeping it off. Or, better yet, out contributing to society.

The problem I have with gambling on Sony Vegas Pro software is that it’s like driving up a dead-end. You invest serious time away from your loved ones on this platform, only to find yourself addicted—like a wanton wagerer—to a tool that has a questionable future. It can only do so much. That much is not quite enough for most users amidst today’s confusing convergence. And Sony’s track record of timely development is not encouraging.

And yet, if you like a plain vanilla workspace, have a pile of different camera formats to cut together and do Windows, Vegas might seduce you.

Now, if you are a big show, shooting a lot of cameras in XDCAM format, you might even be in for a Vegas wedding. Here’s why: you can upload low-res proxies to your private server, moments after the shots are shot, wirelessly (special hardware required). That lets your loggers and editors start working immediately. Your team can also log and annotate footage on the Vegas Pro Connect iPad app. These notes show up on the Vegas Pro timeline. Your team will conform the full-res footage later. It’s a blast from the production past, but it works. It’s just hard to see anything less than a small army needing this arcane workflow.

But even small projects these days seem to attract a swarm of media formats from a candy store of cameras: REDs, GoPros, DSLRs, mirror-less minis, smarter phones, digital cinema cams. The good news is Vegas Pro hosts most of these with ease on its ecumenical timeline.

And Vegas edits 3D stereo with easy auto-pairing in the timeline. This may be the last, best hope for this package: Sony introduced—then discontinued—its professional 3D XDCAM (TD300) 3D video camera. The company seems to have retreated to its consumer 3D Handycam. Perhaps it'd consider a bundling deal which more appropriately prices Vegas Pro?

Native effects and filters in Vegas Pro are limited. But Sony committed to speaking OpenFX, the protocol running under plug-ins from several market leaders. Vegas Pro is bundled with plugs and presets from NewBlueFX.

Sony headed down the path of companion programs—notably Sound Forge, for audio sweetening and sound design—but got lost in the desert.

Vegas Pro will, however, pick-up projects started in other editors. And it exports to a few as well. Adobe’s Premiere Pro and FCPX (via XML) are surprisingly well supported.

If you are familiar with another major NLE—and you want to take the time—you can re-map your keyboard to put your most often used commands where your muscle memory believes them to be. But since that other toolkit is undoubtedly deeper and wider than Vegas, why would you bother?

Despite the “Pro” in Sony Vegas, this toolset seems caught below the threshold of what most professionals now need, and it sells above a price -point where it can compete with amateur/hobbyist products like those reviewed in part two of our series.

Grass Valley (Belden) EDIUS Pro/Elite7

Grass Valley (Belden) EDIUS Pro/Elite7

(Windows 7 [64-bit])Street price: $700

As Apollo 8 sailed around the Moon in the tumultuous year of 1968, a small California company brought to market its first video switcher. And for the next three decades, Grass Valley more or less dominated the workflow of weaving linear video streams, whether live, off tape, from film-chains or in combination.

As that icy jerk Grand Moff Tarkin orders the destruction of Alderaan by the Death Star’s correlated-beam weapon, it is the T-handle and color-lit buttons upon the dusty deck of a Grass Valley 1600 “vision mixer” that is propped up to do the killing.

As Grass Valley grew in California, another small company named Canopus launched in Kobe, Japan in 1983. It was an early maker of video cards and soon saw the need for simple editing software to go with them.

Video editing passed through a bridge period during the 1990s; not yet non-linear, but not quite offline. And Grass Valley was there. We Cro-Magnons (Homo editus) would ingest low-res versions of clips into Avids or other platforms to make our cut decisions and plan effects. But all they spit out was an Edit Decision List (EDL), to be brought into a tape-based edit suite and “conformed.” Wipes, picture insets, composites, graphics and fonts were brought to the party through the mix effects amplifiers of Grass (and other) boards.

In 2002, Grass Valley Group was bought by Thomson Multimedia of France (later to be renamed Technicolor); in 2005 Thomson acquired Canopus, bringing a non-linear editor to the grand Grass hardware heritage. And EDIUS was born.

It is at home in broadcast and high-end post-production environments. When integrated with Grass Valley’s STRATUS media management tools, EDIUS probably offers the fastest inter-format editing solution around.

There have never been more different video formats than right now. EDIUS excels at scaling, sizing and cropping. This includes working at 4K. When they say “Edit Anything,” they mean it.

The simplicity of the interface is another plus for EDIUS. In a duel between EDIUS and Lightworks for which boasts the least complicated pro-level NLE, it’d be hard to pick a winner. Its ergonomics are intuitive.  

Similarly, EDIUS has one of the most straightforward multi-cam interfaces around, likely another outflow of the Grass Valley switcher birthright. But it takes things literally. If you try to edit very high-res multi-cam (say, four or five 4K sources), EDIUS will grind slower than Treebeard the Ent on Thorazine on all but the most hot-rodded hardware. The workaround is to ask EDIUS to build proxy clips—which will drop frames—and go have lunch while it does them. But don’t make it a liquid lunch because when you come back, EDIUS will be ready to cut cameras as quick as you want. Just be sure to check that the proxy parade has fully passed in the Background Jobs pane.

Ironically, in light of the Canopus DNA as a video card maker, EDIUS is building its bridge to the future by friending external hardware makers: Matrox (long a card-resident graphics slinger), Blackmagic Design (the Han Solo of the video business) and, just recently, AJA (ironically located in Grass Valley, CA).

EDIUS still retains flavors of the linear and hardware workflows of the past. Not at all a bad thing. For example, today’s EDIUS can still pass an EDL around, notably to Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve color grader. But its vibe can seem stodgy to those born on the right side of the digital divide.

Stepping up from EDIUS Pro to Elite yields only a few more tricks, and they are very specific to the professional broadcast setting. You can pass and edit multiplexed (encoded) Dolby AC3 audio and you can network via STRATUS for workflow and play-out to air.

Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro X

(Mac OS)Street price: ~$300

There’s a lot to love—and hate—about FCPX. Many have weighed in on this fight. I’ll try not to stir it all up again. Let me get the bad stuff out of the way first. Apple fanatics (I was one once), skip down. Or bear with a few paragraphs of bruising critique.

Final Cut could have had it all. A decade ago, we caught a glimpse of a synchronous, end-to-end, creation-to-distribution audio-visual solution coming from the inscrutable Apple. Create in Final Cut. Sweeten audio in Logic. Author in DVD Studio. Version in Compressor. Distribute through iTunes…

Now, there’s a train wreck where a shining shaft of crystalline independent video genius once shimmered. Can FCPX make it back to truly “Pro?” Or does Apple so believe its own rhetoric of media democratization that it intends to try and kill the professional video editorial class entirely?

Yogi Berra famously malapropped: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Apple tried precisely that, careening through a sharp turn to the south, from Final Cut Pro 7 off into the weeds of FCPX. The two tools are, at root, fundamentally different architectures with respect to picture flow.

Thus, project migration from the legacy to the offspring was thrown off the table and under the bus. It was a brave choice. But it gives lie to the moniker of “Pro.” To the professional editor or producer, this looks like archetypal Apple arrogance: “Where we lead, you shall follow.”

No professional would chuck her entire toolbox on the promise of a new holy-land, especially one whose landscape is suddenly barren of features she depended upon last week. No video client wants to pay a latter-day Hernán Cortés to mellifluously and melodiously incite their passion for adventure while burning their editorial boats behind them. They just want their freakin’ show cut, finely and finally. That’s what Final Cut was supposed to do.

It willdo so, if your show is brand new and you want to learn a brand new interface. If you need to recover old FCP projects, your only path leads through third-party translation-ware (Intelligent Assistance’s 7toX plug).

There’s also a bottleneck at the exit sign. Apple doesn’t call your attention to this, but FCPX lives by the maxim: “Lascucarachas entran, pero nopueden salir.” The program is a diode. Works beautifully, if you stay forever in the House of Apple. But the house rules are very Hotel California. If you need to export an incomplete sequence to another platform, your options are limited.

But it’s not impossible to transfer. If you are going out to the industry-leading Avid, Boris FX does make a pair of plug-ins called Transfer FCP that can short out the diode. The outbound path creates an AAF file-set that Avid understands. One especially good reason to do this is to finish audio on Avid ProTools.

You can get some of the elements from an FCPX project out to After Effects. XML transfers used to work going into Premiere Pro from FCP7, but FCPX is another story.

On its initial product launch, FCPX ran aground on the sharp rocks of professional editorial opinion. Broadcast cutters were suddenly left high and dry without multi-cam and up the creek without their color-calibrated monitors. Apple seems to have heard the howls and rolled out patches. But I worry about FCPX’s future.

Given Apple’s laser-focus (and huge success) in selling consumer mobile devices, I’m hard-pressed to believe the company will invest engineering and support commitment to a declining number of high-end craftspeople (you and me). I imagine a sales data-driven discussion, behind the Iron Curtain in Cupertino, around how many more “dark tower” Mac Pros would be sold if Final Cut is allowed to survive. The answer, sadly, will be only a comparative handful.

I hope Tim and Jony prove me totally wrong, but I worry Final Cut may finally get cut.

Enough angst against Apple. The bright side of Final Cut Pro X is brilliant. It’s a sleek and modern editor that has made a clean break with most of the baggage of its past.

If Lightworks was considered the genius at rendering in the background, Final Cut had traditionally been the dolt. Up through version 7, FCP was cold-molasses sluggish. It needed to stop, then think about rendering. Then render. Then stop again. The render some more. Often. Maybe the marketing team shrewdly figured that long, frequent renders stimulate long side trips to the App Store.

Not. Any. More.

FCPX is screamin’ fast by comparison, especially if you can afford ~$5000 to rock the home-court advantage of a six-core “New” Mac Pro with its dual GPUs. Now running in fully native 64-bit, FCPX operation rams right through the former 4GB RAM barrier. Apple boasts of rolling up to 16 streams of ProRes 4K. Complex composites, interpolated slo-mo, long transcodes and high-res exports are now much faster. Many former “stop-and-wait” operations now tick away in the background with a completion-predictor display happily keeping you company as you merrily edit other bits.

Outside the box, Thunderbolt will connect you with AJA, Matrox, Blackmagic and other brands of I/O, plus some newer cameras, at transfer rates that can only be described as sick. Native/proprietary formats from superstar cameras like RED and ARRI can be sucked in with ease.

A single window now lords over all manner of imports from a large universe of source types. It preserves most metadata, including rich XML wrappers. You can work in your source’s native format or ask FCPX to create ProRes (Apple’s own). FCPX’s Content Auto-Analysis works as your AI assistant to identify media types, separate shots and flag that there’s a human in the frame. It can stabilize footage, if you wish. And it can find and fix certain audio issues like 60-cycle hum as it’s importing. The AI can look at overall color balance with an eye toward globally shading shots by source, which is handy when, say, your white balances differ from cam to cam. Smart Collections, basic keyword tagging and other librarian tools can make organizing your media more fun (was that task ever actually fun?).

So now it’s time to edit. In its re-imagining of video editorial workflow, FCPX did away with the time-honored notion of tracks in favor of its spooky Magnetic Timeline. It hasn’t really killed the track concept, just made it more fluid. They’re now called “lanes.” More like driving lanes than swimming lanes though: clips snap together or bump one another along, depending on where you hover your driving cursor. Why should you have to bog down your creative flow keeping track of the relationships between clips when a bit of machine smarts can do it for you?

There’s still a timeline, though. And familiar source versus program monitor panes. If you can get past the ego-challenging feeling that you're editing in some iMovie-on-steroids toy, you can edit like a pro: slipping and sliding and rolling and rippling.

Confound it, compound it! OK, so you’ve got a complex multi-layered sequence built, tweaked and happy. But now you need to drag it elsewhere. Or use it again. This used to be a migraine waiting to happen. Now FCPX let’s you “compound” combinations of clips to easily relocate them. Whatever else Apple may have screwed up on the jump from Final Cut Pro to X, this it executed eloquently.

Likewise color-keying. Color Selection in FCPX refines what is possible, letting you create conditions in your key that compensate for imperfections in your shot with a great number of handles for problems with edges, shadows, spills, rim-light bloom, highlights and other bugaboos.

A lot of pros bemoan the now-dead Apple Color tool. But a few editors I know love FCPX’s color correction. Part of their ardor is that the waveform monitor and vectorscope now actually function (unlike those in Final Cut 7 and earlier), which is to say each has finally attained a level of resolution that can accurately model the ballistics of analog.

Trouble is, you cannot bring up more than one scope at a time. If you want to, say, saturate your chroma but take care that doing so doesn’t push your white-point beyond broadcast legal, you need to click back and forth repeatedly while your footage plays. All the while, you’re trying to integrate what each scope — plus the program monitor — is telling you. Pass the Fioricet, please.

Setting that weakness aside, the correction palette itself is a powerhouse of primary and secondary strength. FCPX now starts you off with a “Looks” effect category. Every editor on every show is always in search of a unique vibe that puts gentle bumpers around the audience’s range of emotional response. Color-casting is one way to do that: cold looks, warm looks, duo-tones, distressed, hyped, historic, futuristic, day-for-night and more, FCPX starts you down many paths. Each preset gives you maybe 70 percent of the shading and grading in a millisecond. It’s rather like the visual version of an audio producer choosing a pre-convolved ambient/reverberant space for her music track. Match Looks will let you sample the look of a clip, and then impart that vibe to any or all clips in your project.

When you’ve locked your look, FCPX can render the corrections in the background. Where Final Cut formerly failed it now succeeds brilliantly.

It's wonderful — and terrifying — how the human hardware universe can be radically rolled by the dedicated actions of a single one of us.

Please permit me an homage at this point: down deep in Final Cut’s DNA, there are the marks of common ancestry — or at least co-evolution — with Adobe Premiere. No discussion of non-linear video editors can be complete without a reverent nod to one of the field’s principal pioneers: Randy Ubillos. This artful technologist essentially invented Adobe Premiere (originally called “Reeltime”), and then led the team that grew it through its v.4 release. That team found another home at Macromedia where they assembled KeyGrip, which, upon acquisition by Apple and further development, released as Final Cut in 1998, which, when buckled to IEEE 1394 (FireWire) digital video I/O turned “Pro” in 1999. Then Aperture. And next Randy’s posse created iMovie.

Conclusion

The Moral Here

So, as you go forth into the valley of the shadow of looming video deadline, here’s what I’d like you to take with you:

It’s not about which video editing software is “the best.” It’s about which one fits your hand, your eye, your sense of timing and your way of organizing. Factor in your prior experiences, plus the learning curve to get comfortable with a new toolset. If you’ve invested, say, more than hundred hours on any decent platform, you’re probably best off staying there.

At least, until the brand dies and you’re forced to learn to worship in a new church.

But don’t underestimate your power to change the prescribed canons of worship or the dogma of editing practice. It is in the nature of NLE to be always either in-development or dying. A lot of what the manufacturers try to hand you—bad support, buggy whiz-bangs, half-baked features—is unacceptable. Say so. Don’t let them BS you. Make them work harder for your dollar. Always remember that you are the apex predator of this biosphere.

Where No Editor Has Gone Before: Into The Clouds

Advanced video editing hereafter is all about the cloud. Or, more accurately, clouds plural.

But this does not mean that you will be actually editing in the cloud just yet. Yes, with ubiquitous big-pipe broadband, you could someday be editing a proxy on your tablet from your kayak or igloo. Your actual 4K files will be screaming around Amazon’s data farm. And your rendered Final will directly play-out to viewers from your client’s head-end—or your YouTube channel—without you even having to export: truly on-line editing. But that day shall not come as soon as Avid and Adobe want you to believe.

Between then and now you will essentially be renting your editing tools from a cloud-based mother ship. But you’ll be carving with them locally on your home-heating, utility bill-killing CPU; all your pictures stored on local drives, with only yourself to blame when the array fails with no back-up. In this brave new world, the worker (you) controls the means of production. But you won’t ever own them.

Yes, it’s the old Soviet model, complete with a small committee of corrupt fat cat execs cashing your checks, surrounded by a cloud of dependent, sycophantic and largely incompetent apparatchiks (called customer service representatives). They will eavesdrop and surreptitiously record your forum chats. Complain too much and they will fire you, even though you are the customer. Mark my words, folks, this will suck. But it's the new normal. For now.

I know. You hate having to pay the lease each month for a car you may not drive that often, or that far. But, having spent the last few thousand words beating up the manufacturers, I’m now going to ask you think about this from their perspective.

For software shops to remain competitive, they must be nimble, delivering updates and refinements and bug fixes as soon as they can. Going, going, gone is the business model of selling an expensive box of video toolkit but having to constantly offer patches and updates for free.

So you pay a modest—but constant—fee to edit. And you get the latest toolset, updated and supported automatically in the background (mostly). Adobe Premiere Pro Creative Cloud is already here. Avid Everywhere is gathering on the horizon. You’ll find yourself monogamously married to one mob or another. You can pick your gang, but you “can’t not” be a gang-banger. For you have drunk the Kool-Aid and subscribed.

Here's how the seduction is structured: you date a non-linear editor because you like the look and feel of its timeline and sculpting tools. But you soon find that some other guy's compositing program is better than the one offered by the NLE you chose. It proves to be damnably difficult to move all your elements and half-realized cut cross-platform. And then you find you need to create and import an object (or worse, a scene full of them) from a 3D modeler from yet another company. You have a client—for whom you want to do award-winning work—breathing heavily in your ear about the budget and the deadline. You're basically hosed.

If you have to make a living doing this, you simply don't have time to become a fully vetted proficient citizen of many different townships, each with their own customs, currency, interface, terminology and keyboard shortcuts. You're hosed again.

Thus, the clusters of "intra-networked" programs become island universes. You could think of them as navies at war on the sea of visual content, or like different planets with mutually exclusive biota. But they are really much more like Organized Religions.

Thus you choose to marry within one faith or another. And you stay there. For years. And your working culture becomes ever-entwined with that brand.

So, when selecting a video edit package, be sure to pick one whose high priests return your e-mails.

How to learn the prayers and rituals of any new software package? Start with: Lynda.com. Lynda Weinman began as a special effects animator before founding the training company with her partner illustrator/designer Bruce Heavin. They get visual production. They know how to school us.

Epilogue

Better days lie ahead. I’m not yet a believer in all that Singularity stuff (Nerd Nirvana). But, looking at innovations like Apple’s Content Auto-Analysis, it’s pretty clear that fuzzy-logical neural-networked contextual software will save our sorry video editorial butts, someday.

Full interoperability between tool-sets from different creators (religions) can be made possible given sufficient cloud computing power and connectivity. We will eventually see (mostly) seamless “translation-in-the-background.” This will render the platform pedigree irrelevant. The economic winners: the third-party plug-in makers. And you and I, the content creators.

Yes, you could edit and deliver from your catamaran. You may even be able to speak to your Editing AI in esthetic terms: “Move that swarm of bees (cluster of related procedurally animated object-events) from near the diving board (locus by context) to over by the guy with the watermelon (face + object recognition and key-frame definition), in one and a half seconds (transition time irrespective of frame-rate); let me see a gentle swoop (3D Bezier motion path).”

You will finally graduate from button-pusher to full-time creative director, reducing the producer to being just the banker instead of your boss!

Until then, buy more RAM (can you ever have too much?). And hang in there.

Happy cutting.

“Check the gate.”

More, Less Or Just Different?

Let's say you read Intel Core i7-5960X, -5930K And -5820K CPU Review: Haswell-E Rises, and really liked the idea of Intel's latest-gen enthusiast-oriented processors. But what's the price premium on X99 motherboards (not to mention DDR4), and what does it get you? A quick look at the specs show that LGA 2011-v3-based platforms priced between $240 and $300 sport close to the same added features as a Z97-based board selling between $120 and $180.

At least from the motherboard angle, that sounds like a fairly mainstream recipe to me. But it's the technology built into Intel's newest Core i7s that make them so high-end.

You get up for 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes, for example, allowing advanced graphics configurations like four-way SLI. You’d have to pay an extra $60 to get a lane-multiplying switch enabling that feature from Z97 Express, and the price premium on these boards is only twice as high. You also get ten SATA 6Gb/s ports, and the extra four ports are connected directly to the X99 PCH instead of sharing a couple of 5 Gb/s PCIe lanes, as they would on Z97. And then there are those four channels of DDR4 memory, compelling motherboard companies to build beefier circuit boards.

Perhaps the biggest cost-adding feature on X99-based desktops is all of that PCIe connectivity. You actually pay twice for it, since the controller is built into your expensive Core i7 processor. If that doesn’t make complete sense, consider that the entry-level LGA 2011-v3 processor, Intel’s $390 Core i7-5820K, has only 28 lanes rather than 40. If you want the same number of cores to connect all 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes, you’re forced to buy the $590 -5930K.

Yet, the motherboard market is so competitive that price-gouging is nearly impossible. Intel consequently gets credit for adding most of the complexity and performance, and then getting to charge for it. You can’t have one without the other.  And now that we’ve acclimated ourselves to the high cost of a mainstream motherboard for Intel’s high-end socket, we’re ready to look at how motherboard manufacturers have addressed its additional interfaces.

MSI doesn’t call its X99S Gaming 7 a four-way SLI board, and there are a couple reasons for that. Still, our experience with multi-GPU graphics arrays suggests three cards is often the sweet spot for big-spending gamers. We’re not going to go too hard on MSI’s technical marketing team over the nomenclature (or the missing quad-SLI bridge), but this does leave Gigabyte’s X99-UD4 as the only four-way SLI-capable solution in our round-up.

One of the companies you might have expected to appear told us that it wanted a few more days for firmware development before seeding review sites with its most price-appropriate model. Sure enough, the other three manufacturers all sent new firmware builds a few days after we started testing. Unfortunately, catering to every firmware change starts an update loop that keeps us from completing stories, since updates are often issued in the middle of our comprehensive testing.

ASRock X99 Extreme4

The least-expensive of today’s contenders, ASRock leans exclusively on chipset features to provide four I/O panel and two front-panel USB 3.0 ports, along with a slew of USB 2.0 ports spread across internal and external connectors, in addition to 10 SATA 6Gb/s ports shared with M.2 and eSATA.

A CLR_CMOS button on the I/O panel is handy for overclockers, as are the two socket-mounted firmware ROMs along the X99 Extreme4’s bottom edge. Thanks to a selector switch, users who really screw up their firmware can switch, reboot, switch again, and hot-flash the other chip without the risk of removing components on a powered-up system. And if you somehow kill both parts, the sockets allow you to replace them with pre-programmed ICs. Any of those advanced techniques are “at your own risk” operations best left to the most experienced hands.

You’ve probably noticed that the X99 Extreme4 has four PCIe x16 slots, but that one of these wasn’t mentioned in the introduction. That’s because the second PCIe x16 slot wired as a two-lane PCIe 2.0 link to the motherboard’s PCH. An included three-way SLI bridge bypasses it entirely to connect the first, third, and fourth x16-length slots, since those are the X99 Extreme4’s only SLI-compliant interfaces.

You probably also noticed that Ultra M.2 connector located between the first and second x16-length slots. It supports PCIe 3.0 x4 by robbing the bottom slot of four lanes when you drop in a PCIe-based M.2 SSD. ASRock disables the expansion slot whenever PCIe is enabled over the M.2 interface, knocking the X99 Extreme4 down to two-way SLI or CrossFire support.

Do you want M.2 and three-way SLI? Communication through SATA is also an option for the X99 Extreme4’s M.2 interface. But ASRock only powers the slot using a single 6 Gb/s port, which is shared with the third standard SATA connector so that only one can be used at a time. The eSATA port is similarly shared with the second internal SATA port.

Other three-way SLI exclusions include the use of a 28-lane (Core i7-5820K) CPU. The reduced lane count drops board’s slots to x16/x8/x4 (as opposed to its full x16/x16/x8 configuration), and Nvidia requires at least eight lanes for each card in an SLI array. AMD’s not as fussy, so you’re still able to use three Radeons in CrossFire with your lower-cost CPU.

ASRock knows a good layout, placing its first and third x16-length interfaces with triple-slot spacing to allow extra-large graphics coolers in concert with two-way SLI or CrossFire. And since the third slot is also SLI-capable (whenever you’re not using a PCIe M.2 card), ASRock makes sure that all of the headers along the board’s edge support crush-friendly cables. USB 3.0 is the one cabled interface that can't be bent over, so ASRock puts a header along the X99 Extreme4’s front edge, just above the board’s center line.

Looking harder for layout problems, we find only that the front-panel audio connector is placed in the bottom-rear corner, where Intel thinks it should be. The reason that’s a potential problem is that the cables of some cases are around ½” too short to reach the corner.

We’d have also liked to see an extra fan header near the top edge, since many cases have a pair of top-mounted fans.

Are you still having trouble thinking of any DDR4-supporting three-way SLI motherboard as being mainstream? Then take a look at the X99 Extreme4’s cable kit, which only includes four SATA cables to serve its 10 SATA headers. At least ASRock was kind enough to include a two-drive power cable to connect its HDD Saver power-control software.

ASRock X99 Extreme4 Software

ASRock’s A-Tuning software includes a few basic modes that can save you about a watt (Power Saving) or keep Turbo Boost “on” more often (Performance mode), plus advanced modes with factory-programmed overclock settings and auto-tuned overclock settings.

Programed overclocks include 4 GHz at 1.15 V (292 W full-system in our CPU load test), 4.2 GHz at 1.17 V (315 W), 4.4 GHz at 1.25 V (384 W), and 4.5 GHz at 1.30 V (crashing at around 430 W system power).

The auto-tuning method found a supposedly-stable 4.3 GHz at 1.1 V, but I managed to crash it with an AVX-optimized run of Prime95.

A-Tuning’s Tools menu includes submenus for most of the board’s included software, such as XFast RAM (RAM disk), XFast LAN packet prioritization, FAN-Tastic Tuning, and USB Key security.

OC Tweaker gives users access to firmware-level clock and voltage controls from Windows. Our small changes worked, and were instantly recognized by CPU-Z.

A-Tuning’s System Info menu shows all of the clock, thermal, and voltage levels that we care about when overclocking, also providing quick access to a visual representation of installed parts that can help troubleshoot if something isn’t connected properly. Unfortunately, the visual map did not identify our memory modules.

Seen in A-Tuning, ASRock X-Fast LAN is an interface for cFos’ prioritization software. X99 Extreme4 software also includes the original version of that interface.

ASRock X99 Extreme4 Firmware

The X99 Extreme4’s OC Tweaker menu opens to a group of factory-programmed overclocks similar to those of its software, but with a slightly different voltage slope. Turbo 4.5 GHz ramps up 50 mV past our desired 1.30 V limit, so we started our overclock with the more longevity-friendly Turbo 4.4 GHz setting.

The highest frequency we’ve been able to reach with this Core i7-5960X sample and a 1.30 V core is 4444 MHz, give or take a few MHz of BCLK rounding error, based on a 101 MHz BCLK setting at 44x CPU multiplier. The X99 Extreme4 gets us there, rounding down to 4543 MHz.

Because data rates exceeding 2666 MT/s require an increased base clock, the DRAM Configuration submenu includes a redundant BCLK setting. The X99 Extreme4 picked 125 MHz x 24 as the appropriate setting for our DDR4-3000, but our CPU couldn’t take the strain.

Dropping to 124 MHz BCLK at that same multiplier helped us to reach a stable DDR4-2975.

A 1.30 V CPU core setting was spot-on according to CPU-Z, and our thermal readings were consistent with other motherboards using these same settings at full load.

Other firmware-integrated applications allow users to download drivers, update the firmware, set fan slopes, or even send an email to ASRock tech support before the OS is loaded.

Gigabyte X99-UD4

For a few dollars more than ASRock’s board, Gigabyte’s X99-UD4 upgrades buyers to four-way SLI capability, dual M.2, one onboard SATA Express connector, and an added pair of USB 3.0 ports. You'll even find a Wi-Fi antenna bracket to use with your M.2 Wi-Fi card.

Those previous three words are important to note, as the second M.2 slot is PCI Express-only, and designed exclusively for notebook wireless cards. The only real-world advantage I can find over the earlier mini-PCIe standard is that it’s a little narrower, though I’m sure the M.2 name will win over some customers. And I thought the point of M.2 was to simplify the whole mini-SATA-versus-mini-PCIe debacle.

The upper M.2 slot is the real deal, and by that I mean it’s for storage. It’s not an “Ultra M.2” PCIe 3.0 x4 device, so it won’t steal valuable lanes away from any four-way SLI configuration. On the other hand, being limited to either two SATA or two PCIe 2.0 lanes means that its “M.2_10G” label indicates a noteworthy bandwidth disadvantage compared to the Ultra slot on ASRock's board.

The only way to break the X99-UD4’s four-way SLI capability is to install a Core i7-5820K, since it only gives you 28 of the platform’s 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes.Downgrading from a 40- to 28-lane CPU also drops the X99-UD4 from x8/x8/x16/x8 to x8/x8/x8/x4 mode. Remember, SLI requires at least eight lanes per card. Conversely, AMD's CrossFire technology runs on four PCIe 3.0 lanes without protest.

Hardware limitations imposed by sharing are mostly confined to the “M.2_10G” slot, with both SATA ports and both PCIe ports also connected to the board’s SATA Express connection. And, since SATA-E uses two standard SATA connectors, your SATA Express cable fills two of the board’s 10 SATA 6 Gb/s ports.

It's nice that Gigabyte doesn't force us to explain a cluster bomb of resource conflicts. But that’s not to say that there aren’t any mechanical conflicts with four-way graphics arrays. Gigabyte places the X99-UD4’s only front-panel USB 3.0 header at its bottom edge, where it'd get covered by the heat sink on almost any graphics card. The inflexibility of USB 3.0 cable ends means that anyone who wants this feature will essentially be stuck with a three-way motherboard.

And then there’s the occasional front-panel audio connector problem, where the cables of some cases are just a little too short to reach the motherboard’s bottom-rear corner. Case manufacturers carry most of the responsibility for this issue, but some motherboard designers previously slid the connector forward a little to compensate for a case maker’s poor judgment.

Gigabyte generously  includes two three-way SLI bridges at different slot spacing, a four-way SLI bridge, along with two-way CrossFire and SLI flexible bridges in its X99-UD4 installation kit. On the other hand, a mere four SATA cables don’t represent the same completeness. And while some motherboard manufacturers have added multiple CPU power connectors for extreme overclocking power loads, Gigabyte beefs up its single eight-pin input and adds a three-to-one power combiner cable.

Gigabyte X99-UD4 Software

Gigabyte’s OC Tuner continues to provide users with a wide range of Windows-based overclocking functions that are also reflected in firmware. Some changes, such as DRAM multiplier, still require a reboot in order to take effect through firmware, but base clock, CPU multiplier, and voltage levels are all ready-to-go.

Manufacturer-configured overclocks for Intel’s Core i7-5960X include 3.70 GHz at 1.10 V, 3.90 GHz at 1.15 V, and 4.10 GHz at 1.20 V. These settings appear almost ideal for our CPU, as its Auto Tuning app also finds a stable maximum of 4.10 GHz at 1.20 V. We’re not certain how accurate the term Extreme is though, since we feel safe up to 1.30 V CPU core.

Apart from the DRAM configuration that required a reboot, manual settings we tried were quickly reflected in CPU-Z.

Gigabyte’s Cloud Station includes a server application that lets you access system settings from an iOS or Android device.

Cloud Station’s remotely-controlled menus can also be accessed from the desktop via Cloud Station Client. These settings include remote overclocking, monitoring, and management.

Besides monitoring, Gigabyte System Information Viewer also includes a few settings, such as fan slope.

Vintage apps like “Smart Recovery 2” and “USB Blocker” remain, but we were also surprised to find a universal graphics overclocking tool among the X99-UD4’s applications.

Gigabyte Smart Switch adds a traditional start menu to desktop mode.

Gigabyte X99-UD4 Firmware

Gigabyte’s M.I.T. menu continues as a launch point for multiple submenus, where actual adjustments can be made.

Our processor is cable of approximately 4444 MHz at 1.30 V, fully loaded, with an actual result of 4451 MHz on the X99-UD4 thanks to its slight rounding error of our selected 101 MHz BCLK.

Because Haswell-E’s top DRAM practical data rate multiple is 26.66 times base clock, the X99-UD4 attempted to reach our memory’s rated DDR4-3000 at 125 MHz x 24. Following a boot failure, we tried reducing the BCLK in 1 MHz steps, eventually giving up on the 1.25x BCLK strap.

Somewhere in the middle of all that is where X99-UD4 overclocking falls apart. Every boot failure resulting from too-high of a BCLK triggered the motherboard’s “Corrupt BIOS” detection, causing it to automatically reflash the main firmware ROM from an old firmware image on the backup ROM. There is no workaround for this, as the board doesn’t have a way to disable the feature (for manual CLR_CMOS) or even a simple jumper to select between ROMs. Over an hour of re-updating firmware with the correct image finally got us to the point where we could define a DRAM limit of DDR4-2832 at the board’s highest-stable "1.00x strap" base clock (106 MHz) and a memory data rate ratio of 26.66x.

CPU-Z showed that the 1.30 V firmware setting produced the expected voltage, and RealTemp confirmed similar overclocking temperatures compared to the two competing products.

MSI X99S Gaming 7

A great-looking product with four PCIe 3.0 graphics card slots, the X99S-Gaming 7 is both the most feature-packed and expensive product in today’s round-up. A $30 premium over the competing Gigabyte sample buys another four USB 3.0 ports, a four-lane Ultra M.2 PCIe 3.0 slot, a Killer E2205 network controller and, for a limited time at Newegg, a free MSI Steelseries Mouse valued at $30.

X99S Gaming 7 owners also get a digital system code display, on-board power/reset/OC-profile buttons, and a selector switch to choose between two soldered-on firmware ROMs. Even if we ignore the temporary single-vendor mouse offer, the X99S Gaming 7 looks like it just might be worth more than its $30 price premium.

Yet, MSI is also the company known for most blatantly inflating its slot count through PCIe pathway sharing, and the X99S Gaming 7 is no exception. The Ultra M.2 interface shares lanes with the fourth PCIe 3.0 slot, so that installing a card there turns off all of the M.2 interface’s PCIe 3.0 lanes. Your PCIe-based SSD doesn't disappear though, because the X99S Gaming 7 instead switches it over to two of the chipset’s PCIe 2.0 lanes.

The illusions don’t end there. Supposing you have a 40-lane CPU like the Core i7-5960X or -5930K, MSI wants you to configure your three-way SLI in the motherboard’s first, second, and fourth slots. That gets you a x16/x16/(x0)/x8 configuration, while crippling the bandwidth of the M.2 slot.

Anyone who thinks that’s a rude thing to do to a potentially-32 Gb/s SSD will want to use the first, second, and third PCIe 3.0 slots for their graphics cards. The third slot borrows half of the first slot's lanes, yielding a x8/x16/x8 graphics configuration, no lanes to the bottom slot, and full PCIe SSD performance.

Value-minded enthusiasts who opt for the Core i7-5820K’s 28 lanes instead get a x16/x8/x0/x4 configuration. You'd need to drop to x16/x8/x0/x0 (no card in the forth slot) to get full Ultra M.2 performance, but you can still donate half of the top slot's bandwidth to the third slot for a x8/x8/x8/x0 three-way SLI configuration. Apart from the middle slot having only eight lanes, this is the configuration MSI recommended against when using a 40-lane CPU.

Could all of these marketing-based configuration recommendations be the reason why MSI calls this a three-way, rather than four-way board? Perhaps it’s just as likely that the single-slot spacing between PCIe 3.0 slot three and four is the culprit. Either way, MSI could have avoided the mixed configuration recommendations and M.2 bandwidth inconsistencies by leaving out the fourth slot. We might not prefer the board to have that alteration, but at least I wouldn’t have spent three paragraphs explaining it and an hour or so with a graphics card and an SSD confirming it.

The rest of the X99 Gaming 7’s layout is close to spot-on, including a forward-facing USB 3.0 front-panel header that tucks easily under the top graphics card, and a second USB 3.0 header above that serves two more front-panel ports.

If we consider this a three-way SLI/CrossFire product, layout deficits become extremely minor. The upper half of the X99X Gaming 7 only has three fan headers (including CPU and rear panel) where we’d have preferred four, and the front-panel audio jack is still just a little too far into the bottom-rear corner to connect with the slightly-short cables of certain cases.

MSI provides a generous six SATA cables in two different lengths with the X99S Gaming 7, and even adds an optional power input cable to help boost audio output current. But the company is not as generous when it comes to SLI bridges. Rated for three-way SLI, the board lacks the extra-long third cable needed to jump from the top card to the bottom card.

MSI X99S Gaming 7 Software

"MSI Gaming App" is a shortcut to one overclocking profile, in this case 3.7 GHz at 1.05 V, which was already on the installation DVD when we received our motherboard sample.

MSI Command Center wasn’t included on the X99S Gaming 7’s installation DVD, but that’s probably because the firm needed a few more days to update its overclocking and management suite. By the time we did our tests, version 1.0.0.79 was available on the motherboard’s download page.

Changes to CPU base clock and core voltage were quickly detected by CPU-Z, but DRAM ratios were stuck. We also had to wait a few seconds for the application of clock multiplier changes.

MSI’s RAMDisk software made a nice little partition on some of our spare memory.

Additional voltage controls are available through an “Advanced” pop-up menu.

The “Settings” button links to extra fan and system logging pop-ups.

MSI Mobile Control provides remote access to overclocking functions briefly mentioned in our previous motherboard round-up.

MSI X99S Gaming 7 Firmware

Our CPU reached its approximate 4444 MHz 1.30 V limit at an actual 4446 MHz on the X99X Gaming 7, thanks to a slight rounding difference on the 101 MHz base clock setting.  

The X99S Gaming 7’s 1.30 V CPU core setting was detected as such by CPU-Z, and the full-load temperatures produced were very close to that of the other two contenders in today’s comparison.

The X99S Gaming 7 tried to set our DDR4-3000 RAM using the CPU’s 1.25x strap to run 125 MHz with a 24x multiplier. Failing that, we reduced our BCLK to 124 MHz at DDR4-2976.

Everything about the DRAM is adjustable per-channel, including the voltage level. Fortunately, selecting “Link” as the main menu’s “DRAM Timing Mode” allows us to set identical timings for both channels, without manually entering those values twice.

Like some of its competitors, MSI allows custom fan slopes to be configured in firmware. Unlike other competitively-matched features, such as overclocking profile registers, MSI does its fan control a little more stylishly.

MSI even adds “Board Explorer” to show the detected location of each connected device. A mouse-enabled interface, hovering over the highlighted areas reveals more information about devices attached there. This is great for builders who can’t figure out whether or not a component is being detected.

How We Tested X99 Motherboards

Swiftech’s ancient Apogee GTX keeps appearing in my “Big Socket” reviews, and for good reasons: it has monster capacity, and it’s built into my test bench.

This Prescott-era workhorse was updated six years ago with an LGA 1366 bracket, and today uses that same bracket with newer spring-loaded screws to fit both LGA 2011 and LGA 2011-v3 support mechanisms.

Rumored power-on troubles with C7s-enabled motherboards and certain power supplies finally hit home when I tried to pair our earlier SS-760KM unit with one of the boards in today’s test. Since my newer AX860i was already being used to test other parts, I hauled Antec’s HCP-1200 out of storage. Success!

PowerColor’s LCS AXR9 290X runs quietly on a second cooling loop.

This is a new platform, so memory and the CPU couldn’t be pulled from spare parts. G.Skill’s quad-channel F4-3000C15Q-16GRR DDR4-3000 kit was added with Intel’s Core i7-5960X to today’s parts list.

Results: 3DMark, PCMark And Sandra

3DMark

Since this CPU has already been separately reviewed, today’s test looks for performance differences attributable to minor variations in memory timing and power controls unique to each motherboard. Covert overclocking would be the only reason for a major performance increase, and misconfiguration the only reason for a major decrease, so no news is good news for all three manufacturers.

Futuremark’s 3DMark shows the expected level of performance consistency.

PCMark

I had minor trouble running PCMark (this was prior to a patch addressing issues with X99-based platforms), yet the most important storage score remains consistent between all three contenders. Minor storage performance differences between this configuration and previous Z97 tests are attributable to my use of an older-model SSD, where the newer SSD is being used to test more Z97 motherboards.

Sandra

Covert overclocking and/or incidental underclocking (due to mismanaged power settings) are most easily found in Sandra’s CPU tests. Fortunately, we find no issues here.

The X99-UD4 falls noticeably behind in Sandra's Memory Bandwidth module. Some manufacturers use slower tertiary timings to allow added stability, so we’ll see how that works for Gigabyte in our overclocking tests.

Results: 3D Gaming And Encoding

3D Gaming

Remember the X99-UD4’s slightly lower Sandra Bandwidth scores? They’re reflected in games, albeit barely, at our least-stressful settings. Not that anyone really cares about a few averages FPS at such high performance levels.

Audio And Video Encoding

The X99S Gaming 7 falls one second behind in both iTunes and Lame, which are best known for being single-threaded and frequency-optimized. We enabled all of Intel’s energy-saving schemes; perhaps this motherboard isn’t resuming as quickly?

Results: Adobe CC, Productivity And File Compression

Adobe Creative Cloud

The X99 Extreme4 take a small lead in After Effects, though the actual scale of the difference is probably being disguised by the benchmark’s short duration. A millisecond is all it takes to round a number up or down!

The X99-UD4 falls slightly behind in Photoshop’s OpenCL-optimized filters. That difference might be tied to its slightly lower memory bandwidth, as retesting validated this result.

The X99 Extreme4 comes out on top of Acrobat XI as well, though the longer benchmark time make the one-second lead appear smaller.

Productivity

The X99 Extreme4 takes marginal leads in a few benchmarks, but it pulls ahead a little further in 3ds Max. The X99S Gaming 7 gets a small lead in ABBYY FineReader.

File Compression

The X99-UD4 falls slightly behind in 7-Zip and WinZip EZ, which could be due to its lower memory bandwidth.

Results: Power, Heat And Efficiency

ASRock’s X99 Extreme4 has the lowest power consumption at both zero and full load conditions. MSI’s power consumption looks a little high, though it does pull along a couple of extra controllers.

The X99 Extreme4 also demonstrates the lowest thermal readings, so there’s a chance that its superior energy savings could be due to below-spec voltage. We’re happy with slightly less voltage when it doesn’t hurt stability.

Average performance gains of less than 1% are tied to average power savings of just over 5%, giving the X99 Extreme4 a 6.2% lead in efficiency.

Results: Overclocking

All three mid-priced X99-based motherboards reach the same 44 x 101 MHz base clock setting, though fractional differences in actual base clock could create the illusion of leadership. We call this a tie.

After seeing that none of the test samples were stable at the 125 MHz needed by our RAM to reach the highest DDR4 data rates, we scratched the test off our list and stuck to a 100 MHz strap. We found that Gigabyte’s X99-UD4 could potentially push a “locked” processor a little further, if Intel ever introduces one.

Not that we’d want to overclock with the X99-UD4, though. Going over the edge caused it to read a firmware error and reflash the chip with an old backup copy. If our hardware required new firmware to function (as sometimes happens after the introduction of a new CPU), we would have been stranded.

Our inability to reach DDR4-3000 at 125 MHz x 24, and Haswell-E’s inability to run 30x data rate ratios meant that we were stuck going backwards from 125 MHz to find each motherboard’s highest data rate, at 124x 24 for both the X99 Extreme4 and X99S Gaming 7. All of those re-flashes on the X99-UD4 eventually pushed us to try the board’s class-leading 106 MHz base clock in conjunction with the CPU’s highest 26.66x data rate multiple, for a grand total of 2832 MT/s.

The lack of a DDR3-2800 setting again forced us to use Haswell-E’s 26.66x maximum memory ratio to find each board’s peak bandwidth. This test was added to a previous platform after finding out that a brand not represented here today was using hobbled timings to win overclocking competitions, but Gigabyte was first to fall behind on this occasion.

Picking A Mid-Priced X99 Winner

Value is an important consideration in most round-ups. But it's not as simple a conclusion to reach as a performance-per-dollar chart might show. After all, these charts don’t reflect differences in on-board features or overclocking. These days, there's very little point to performance-per-dollar on a motherboard, and much more reason to judge based on functionality. Yet, when it comes to quantifiable comparisons, our options are few.

The X99S Gaming 7, for example, only needs a 10% “better” feature set than the X99 Extreme4 to claim realistic value leadership. We can’t arbitrarily call one feature 10% more valuable than another, but we can say that all of those added controllers and switches probably added 10% or so to MSI’s manufacturing cost. Buyers must make the final decision of cost-versus-worth. However, we see the X99S Gaming 7 and X99 Extreme 4 as a value tie at two slightly different equipment levels.

But what about the X99-UD4? It’s the only board in today’s round-up to properly support four-way SLI. This used to be considered the “killer feature” for any high-end platform. We even thought it might be the one capability to set the X99-UD4 apart for a higher award level. Unfortunately, you can’t use four-way SLI and front-panel USB 3.0 at the same time, and the latter of those two is a basic feature. May the Force be with anyone who tries to run DDR4-3000 on this thing. Your system might never boot again!

Gigabyte claims to have solved similar firmware-reflashing issues in past products through firmware updates, so our overclocking fiasco might just be unfortunate timing. After all, Intel did pull in the Haswell-E launch by almost two weeks, forcing vendors to hustle to hit the introduction. We’d probably consider re-examining the board after it gets a few firmware updates. But it's hard to forgive that one layout feature I keep harping on.

On Monday, Director of Programming for Microsoft Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, said that a major update to the Xbox One will be rolling out to the console over the next several days. These new features are based on customer feedback, some of which Microsoft received via Xbox Feedback.

Probably the biggest feature offered in this release is support for 3D Blu-ray video, and it will have remote purchases, too.

“Using Xbox SmartGlass or on Xbox.com, you can remotely purchase games and Add-on content,” Hryb said. “No more waiting to begin downloading when you get home – if your console is set to automatically take updates, your console will begin downloading your purchase.”

Also on the list of changes is a low battery notification pop-up window that appears on the screen ans well as the ability to turn off notifications while watching a video. The friends list is also receiving an update, and it will now show when your friends were last on their Xbox One and what games they were playing.

According to Hryb’s post, the redesigned activity feed will now take the form of a single column scrolling list that will not only be longer but will include additional content. Gamers will be able to add text to their feed, post a comment and “like” an entry. Game clips and other content can be shared publicly, such as in the activity feed, or privately, such as attaching a clip to a private message.

Hryb said that gamers will be notified when one of their posts is shared, liked and/or has comments. Their personal profile will also have its own feed so that the user can see what a particular friend is doing on his/her Xbox One console. He also said that SmartGlass can be used to see what friends have added and for “liking” their posts.

Xbox One owners are encouraged to provide feedback via the “User Voice” website. Specific topics include apps, console and accessories, friends and parties, gaming and achievements, home and settings, Kinect, live TV, membership and accounts, SmartGlass, the Xbox Store, and Xbox.com. Recently updated ideas include making SmartGlass available in all regions, accessing the full Xbox Store from SmartGlass, and providing the Xbox One for non-U.S. regions, all of which are “in progress.”

“Please continue to share your suggestions and recommendations on our dedicated Xbox Feedback site,” Hryb said. “Your sustained feedback is incredibly valuable and I can’t thank you enough for helping us make Xbox the best place to play. Stay tuned for even more new features headed your way in the coming weeks including more social features and a few new updates for watching TV.”

To see what the August Update brings to Xbox One, check out the video below.

Follow Kevin Parrish @exfileme. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

On Wednesday, Addonics Technologies launched the Sapphire Write-Protect Drive Reader family, which currently includes two models: the 3.5/2.5-inch Sapphire Write-Protect hard drive reader and the 2.5-inch Sapphire Write-Protect hard drive/Flash reader. These readers treat hard drives, SSDs and flash media as read-only devices so that viruses don't jump off and infect your computer, and hackers can't tamper with the data.

"The interface bridge is a permanent feature and can't be disabled," the press release said. "It protects users from accidental or intentional erasing or destruction of data. Software hacking can't be used to circumvent the write protect function. Forensic investigators can quickly discover if the interface bridge was tampered with and replaced with a read/write enabled board."

The Sapphire Write-Protect 3.5/2.5-inch HDD Drive Reader supports all 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch SATA 1/2/3 drives. Meanwhile, the Sapphire Write-Protect 2.5-inch HDD/Flash Reader comes packed with a set of 2.5-inch flash drive adapters. Addonics claims that this solution is also the first on the market that supports read-only functions on the latest flash cards, which include M2, mSATA and CFast.

Essentially, the two Sapphire Write-Protect devices allow the connected media to be treated like a read-only CD or DVD disc. The options to format, delete and "other commands that alter the content, partition table or MBR of the drive" are all disabled. They can be hot-swapped like a tape drive so that users aren't required to restart the system.

As shown above, the units resemble a closed hardback book, and feature a door at one end that opens and allows the drive to easily slide in and out when needed. On the other end, the devices include an on/off switch, a power connector, a 40 mm cooling fan and a USB 3.0 port. The rugged anodized aluminum construction also helps with the cooling in addition to protecting the drive against rough handling.

For the 3.5/2.5-inch Drive Reader, the company is asking $115. However, the 2.5-inch/Flash Reader is a bit more expensive with a $179 price tag.

Follow Kevin Parrish @exfileme. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Ultrabooks are a big thing lately (or a little thing, depending on your point of view), but what makes them possible is sacrifice. One of the things that gets sacrificed is the optical drive, but some of us still need one occasionally. When we do buy an external optical drive, we also like when its appearance match our Ultrabook. Fortunately, Samsung is making just that device: the SE-218GN and SE-208GB optical drives.

These drives are about 14 mm thick, and built with materials that compliment the Samsung Ultrabooks. These slot-loading DVD writers are able to draw their power from a single USB 3.0 port, thanks to their low power consumption. In order to maintain this thin profile, Samsung has also placed the eject button for the drives on top of the unit rather than on the front. According to the manufacturer, front-placed buttons can be difficult to press on such a thin device.

No exact word on pricing or availability, though we expect these units to hit shelves not too long from now.

Follow Niels Broekhuijsen @NBroekhuijsen. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.